Taming the Troublesome
by Lendra-chan
Summary: Kenji, Kenshin's son, is pure trouble. Babysitters can't take his behavior. Kenshin as one parent, has to find someone to take care of Kenji. When an old friend is perfect for the job and arises new feelings, what's to become of Kenji and his dad?
1. Stubborn

Authors Notes: Ok! Here I go again with another story ;; Five stories up at once may be a little complicated, but I think I can manage. Anyway, I've been DYING to write this story because I just find it as such a cool idea Anyway, I hope you enjoy my latest, and (hopefully) one of the greatest stories I have written so far!

Chapter one – Stubborn 

"I never want to see this kid, or your house, ever again!!"

"B-But Miss! Please! He didn't mean to, honest!"

"Goodbye!"

Once again, Kenshin Himura had lost another babysitter. The slamming to his front door, along with a portrait on the side of the wall next to it coming off it's post and falling to the ground with a crash for the seventh time was an indication that he needed to just face the facts.

His son was a trouble maker.

He sighed as he ran a hand through his flaming hair exasperatedly. He turned to his son with a dropping of his shoulders.

"Well…? Care to explain?"

The boy folded his arms and snorted, looking off to the side.

"No, not really."

Kenshin sighed once again. He shook his head, rubbing his temples with his right hand, while his left hung by his side. He was already having just as much trouble with his stressful jobs.

"Kenji, I can't take much more of this. This is the eighth sitter this month who walked out on us."

"More like stomped out on us." Kenji muttered.

Kenshin sighed angrily and leaned against the wall for support.

"Kenji, you're not making this any easier!"

Kenji only glared at his father, curling his face into a scowl.

"Well neither are you! You're always gone working! You're never home anymore, and you always hire these stupid baby sitters! I would think you would have caught on that I'm sick of those sitters so I get rid of them!"

Kenshin dropped his head.

"Kenji, I know that I'm not home as much as I should be. And I know that I'm not a good father. But we don't have the feminine touch that we need around this place, and I'm no female." He walked over and placed his hands on the boys shoulders.

Kenji's scowl slowly melted away into a saddened expression.

"I know, dad."

Kenshin sighed and looked around the torn up living room.

"Now what exactly could you have done to cause all of this?!" Kenshin's amethyst eyes were wide with surprise.

Kenji 'hmph'ed and turned away, his brown hair whipping to the side.

"How do you know it was me? It could have been the sitter, you know."

Kenshin only glared at the boy.

"Kenji, don't play fresh with me. I want to know the story."

Kenji pouted and sat down and snorted again.

"Fine."

Kenshin smiled and sat down in front of him.

"Now that's more like it."

Kenji explained everything to his father. On how he wouldn't go to bed when she said and how she got mad and he egged her on and everything else.

Kenshin lowered his head, his jaw length hair covering his face.

"Kenji, this is beginning to really get out of hand. I don't know how many sitters that I've hired and they've quit the first night on the job. I can't afford to do this much more. You're twelve years old now, and you should be able to stay home alone and me be able to trust you."

Kenji glared and pointed a finger at him.

"You've never given me a chance to stay here alone! You've always had me watched like a hawk by those bunch of loonies!"

His father shook his head, able to fight back.

"I remember one night I let you have the house to yourself. And when I got back, there was a mob in the living room, soda's all over the carpet, and blasting music."

Kenji sulked back.

"Oh, yeah…"

Kenshin shook his head and sighed.

"Kenji, you shouldn't be throwing house parties for one, you're too young, and two, this isn't only your house, three, it's just not right."

Kenji nodded his head repeatedly.

"Yes, I know, I know! You've told me that so many times, dad."

"Yes, but you still don't seem to get it, Kenji."

Kenji glared off to the side again and crossed his arms, his indigo eyes boring into nothing, muttering under his breath.

"What was that?" Kenshin asked threateningly.

Kenji turned back and gave a bright, yet fake smile.

"Nothing, father!"

"Kenji, if you don't tell me now, you're grounded!"

Kenji's jaw dropped as he glared at his father.

"Dad, that's not fair!"

His father only shook his head and crossed his arms.

"It is indeed fair, and if you don't tell me what you said, I will ground you!"

"Dad, I didn't say anything!"

"You're grounded, mister." Kenshin's stern voice caused Kenji to go quiet.

Kenji's eyes started to well with tears as he gave off a snarl and hissed the words that made Kenshin's throat go dry.

"I hate you." Kenji then bolted over to the staircase and ran upstairs, slamming the door to his room closed.

"Kenji, wait!" Kenshin ran up the stairs after him. He walked over to the door and turned the knob, but the door was locked. He knocked on the door.

"Kenji…?"

He heard sniffling from the inside of the room and a mournful 'go away. Just leave me alone.' That was muffled.

Kenshin sighed and turned around, leaning his back up against the door.

"Kenji, I….I'm really sorry…"

There was silence from within the room. Kenshin lowered his head.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Kenshin was sent off balance, falling backwards.

"Gah!"

Once Kenshin landed roughly on his back, he looked up to see Kenji looking down at him, the doorknob in his hands.

Kenji stared down at his father, as if studying him; testing if he were really sorry.

Kenshin quickly got off of the floor and dusted himself off before kneeling down and taking hold of his sons hands.

"Kenji, I never meant to hurt you. If there's anything I can do-"

"No more baby sitters."

Kenshin looked at his son questionably.

"What do you mean?"

Kenji crossed his arms and glared at his dad.

"You know exactly what I mean. If you stop this baby sitter crap, then I'll forgive you."

Kenshin almost wanted to gape at his son. _He _ was going to forgive _him? _Shouldn't it be the other way around? He just blew it off and nodded his head.

"Alright…but Kenji, I can't have you all by yourself here, un supervised. You know that."

Kenji nodded.

"Yes, I know…"

Kenshin then stood up.

"I think I have an idea. But first, you have to give it a chance before immediately blowing it off. Do we have a deal?"

Kenji hesitated.

"Well…alright. Deal."

Kenshin smiled and then placed a hand on his son's shoulder and looked at him in the eyes.

"Kenji…you know I love you very much. And I'd never want to hurt you. It's just…this has to stop."

Kenji frowned and nodded. He walked into an embrace from his father. Kenshin smiled. The heart stopping comment that his son had sputtered before dashing upstairs was horrifying for him, yet Kenji just forgave and forgot.

Although his son was a trouble maker, his heart couldn't be more golden.

-The next Morning-

"Kenji…Kenji, wake up."

Kenshin nudged his son gently, coaxing him out of a sleep. Kenji only muttered something sleepily before yanking the covers higher up over his head.

"C'mon, squirt, you gotta get out of bed!"

Kenji groaned, irritated, and poked a hand out to shoo his dad away. Kenshin sighed and grabbed a hold of his covers and pulled them off.

"Kenji, get up!"

Kenji only responded by burying his head deeper into his pillow. Kenshin glared and then grabbed a hold of his feet.

"That's it, I've had it."

He started to tug Kenji out of the bed when Kenji grasped the mantle of the bed. Kenshin tugged and tugged while Kenji's grasp only tightened.

"Get. Up!" Kenshin hissed through clenched teeth.

"Nooo!"

Kenshin finally gave up at the stubbornness of his son and let go of his ankles.

"Fine. I guess I'll just have to call another babysitter to take care of you while I go."

With that, Kenji jolted up out of bed and ran downstairs, yelling back up to his father.

"Never! I'll never let you call them!"

Kenshin chuckled as he made his way down the stairs. He walked into the kitchen to see Kenji desperately pulling at the cord that kept the phone line connected.

"Kenji, calm down. I was only joking."

Kenji only glared at him and stomped over to his father.

"Yeah?! Then what am I going to do if I can't stay home alone and you're out, and no babysitters?!"

Kenshin laughed and ruffled the bangs of his sons hair, messing the already frazzled brown heap that was carelessly thrown into a pony tail even worse.

"You'll see."

Kenji swatted his fathers hand away and tried to fix the damage his dad had done by brushing his hands along his hair.

"You go wash up and change out of those pj's."

"Yeah, yeah." Kenji sauntered down the hallway into the bathroom and shut the door.

Kenshin sighed and then sat down at the kitchen table. He then grabbed the morning paper that was slapped down the table that morning and browsed through it.

He got a small glance at an add about special child care, but couldn't read it in detail because Kenji emerged from the bathroom.

His hair was much neater and tidied up, and his clothes much more fitting then the ridiculously large pajama boxers and shirt he had on previously.

"Ah. That's good. Now, would you like to come with me?"

Kenji thought for a moment.

"What's the catch?"

Kenshin chuckled again and shook his head.

"There's no catch. Just come with me and you'll see."

Kenji eventually nodded and smiled, walking out the front door into the humid summer heat. Kenshin smiled as well and grabbed his car keys. He stopped before he opened the door.

He glanced at the newspaper and then walked over to one of the counters. He pulled out a drawer and grabbed a piece of sticky note paper and a pen, and walked back over to the table.

He found the add again and wrote down the name of the care taker, and the given number quickly. He then stuffed the paper into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone that was also on the counter and stuck that in his pocket as well.

Kenji waited patiently in the car for his dad to come out. He glanced up at hearing a door being closed and saw his dad coming over.

Kenshin smiled and opened the car door, climbing in. He owned a black Lexus that he was finally able to afford just last year. He looked over to his son.

"You ready?"

Kenji nodded.

Kenshin plotted the keys into the ignition and started up the car. As he backed out of the driveway, his thoughts went back to the care taker's name.

The name sounded so familiar.

"Kamiya…"

Kenji glanced over to his dad from the window with a questioning look.

"What, dad?"

Kenshin jerked out of his thoughts and looked at his son and smiled, shaking his head.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking aloud is all."

Kenji nodded only once before returning his gaze over to the window, watching the moving scenery before him.

"So. Would you like to go get some ice-cream?"

Kenji whipped his head back to his father and gave a bright smile.

"Would I ever!"

Kenshin chuckled and nodded.

"Ice-cream it is."

-

Lenny-Chan: Well? What do you think? I'm really psyched to be writing this story! I'm just getting this pulse of excitement writing it ; Please review!


	2. Surprise

Authors Notes: I'm so mad!! My log in screen thingy isn't letting me update my other story goal by heart! Err! ..I'm alright. Anyway, I figured I'm just gonna update this story since the log in is being stupid XD.

Chapter 2 – Surprise.

Kenshin had drove Kenji down the ice-cream parlor and bought him an ice-cream. He couldn't help but smile at his sun who just dove right into it.

They made it back to the car and got in. Kenshin started it up and backed out of the parking lot.

As they were driving down the road, Kenshin pulled out the sticky note paper with the name and the number written on it.

He pulled out his cell phone as well and dialed the number.

There were a few rings before a feminine voice answered.

"Hello?"

Kenshin almost choked on his words, but was able to answer.

"Uh, Yes, Hello."

Well, almost answer. Kenji was looking at him, questioning what he was doing exactly.

The woman on the other line only laughed good heartedly.

"Hello. Now, how may I help you?"

Kenshin breathed in a good heaping of air.

"Is this Miss Kamiya?"

Her voice held a smile.

"Yes it is! Are you calling for child care?"

Kenshin smiled.

"Yes. You see, I'm working almost all hours of the day and my son can't take babysitters so I need another place for him to stay."

Kenshin didn't want to say that babysitters couldn't stand _him._ That would just be a recipe for disaster.

Kenji perked up and looked at his dad. His mind was filled with questions like 'what's he up to?' and all of that sort.

"Ah. I see. Are you looking for directions?"

Kenshin sighed and his shoulders dropped in relief. This woman must have dealt with the same kind of people before.

"Yes please, miss."

She had explained the directions perfectly, and in no time, he had made it to the house in which she described to him.

He pulled into the drive way and parked.

Kenshin and Kenji both stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door.

"Dad, what is this place? Don't' tell me it's a day care!"

Kenshin couldn't answer because he didn't know himself. He lifted a hand and knocked on the door.

There was a few crashing noises and some little thumps and a muffled,

"I'm coming!"

After a minute or two, the door opened.

There stood a beautiful young lady. Her figure was developed, her hair was a gleaming black; held in a pony tail with bangs that were separated in the middle of her forehead, and glistening blue eyes.

"Hi there! You must be Mr. Himura and your son, Kenji." Her voice was sweet and her face held a heart warming smile.

"Yes, that's us." Kenshin answered.

She ushered them to come in. They hesitantly stepped inside.

Kenji looked around in wonder. There was a living room with a couch and large screen T.V, and looked to be surround sound. There were cushions that were piled everywhere and some bean bags as well.

About five other kids were there. They didn't seem to be little kids like Kenji imagined. They were mostly his age and maybe one year younger.

They didn't seem to be having a bad time either. Their faces were bright and they were smiling as well.

The woman smiled and gave Kenji a small noogie.

"Don't worry, Mr. Himura, we'll set him straight here. Right guys?" She turned to the group of kids.

"Yeah!"

Kenji gulped and turned back to his father. Kenshin only gave him a knowing smile.

"I'll pick Kenji up around 9:00pm. Um…is that too late, Miss Kamiya?"

She turned to him and shook her head.

"No, not at all. The latest I go is around 1:00 am. So don't worry about a thing, Mr. Himura." She smiled and gave him a friendly wink.

Kenshin smiled and walked over to his son and placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair like that morning.

"Have fun. I'll be here around 9:00pm."

Kenji grumbled and swatted his hand away again. Kenshin only laughed and smiled at the woman. He turned around and headed toward the door.

Just before he walked out, he notice a small light flitter around the woman's neck. He squinted his eyes a little and noticed a small golden heart locket.

His mind jacked up a little. He kept the smile on his face and closed the door.

"That locket, her face, her eyes…and her name. They all seem so familiar. I got to figure this out."

He jumped into his car and quickly drove back home. He was taking the day off.

-

Kenji watched from inside the house as his father drove away. His eyes held sadness and his face, a frown.

He then turned to the woman and hung his head.

"What's wrong, little man?"

He only shook his head.

"Well, if you want someone to talk to, you can come to me anytime. Anyway, time to introduce myself. Well, my name is Kaoru."

One kid over in the corner with spiky black hair and fair skin waved a hand and his chocolate eyes gleamed.

"I'm Yahiko Miyojin!"

Kenji gave a small wave. Another kid with light brown hair and indigo eyes also waved.

"I'm Yutaro Tsukayama! Nice to meat you!"

Kenji smiled and got a bit more bold.

"I'm Kenji Himura."

The group of kids smiled and looked at each other deviously. They then looked back at Kenji and snickered, all standing up and slowly inching towards him. Kenji gulped and started to back up when he backed into someone. He looked up to see Kaoru staring down at him, a smirk also on her face.

"Kids, you know what to do with a new comer."

As they nodded and drew closer to him, he began to panic. He closed his eyes and braced a horrible impact or some sort of torture when he suddenly felt a tickling feeling on his ribs.

"Tickle fight!!!"

Instead of a torturous whipping or punching, Kenji started to laugh and writhe under all the hands of the group as they tickled him everywhere.

Before long, tears were streaming out of his eyes, he was laughing so hard. As all the other kids were tickling him In placed he didn't even know were ticklish, Kaoru had him laughing just as hard with her tickling his ribs.

His lungs felt like they were going to burst.

And if felt great.

-

Kenshin had made it home in record time. He ran up stairs up to his room and searched through his bookcase. He finally found his old high school year book. He placed it down on his computer desk and searched through all the pages until he finally found his class.

"Ah! Here it is."

He looked down to the 'K's.

"Kamiya. Kamiya. Kamiya…here it is! Kamiya Kaoru."

He looked over to her photo and suddenly, she seemed even more familiar than normal. But instead of a beautiful clean face like she did presently, her face was shaded and looked awful. Giant glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose and her alluring smile was bracketed in braces.

Her hair was short and frazzled.

Her beauty was definitely on hold for the moment. Yet she still wore the same locket upon her neck.

"Where did she get that…"

Almost as if lightning has struck him, the memories flooded back to him.

::_"Kaoru, I'm so sorry…"_

_kaoru's face was damp and soaked with her own tears. She tried to hide her face as she whipped them away._

"_P-Please…d-don't pity me…"_

_Kenshin's face was twisted into a sad state._

"_Kaoru, you're my best friend! Your parents were just killed, your house burnt down, and you don't want my to feel bad for you?" _

_Kaoru nodded._

"_I don't want pity because I only feel like I can't hold up for myself. I…I'll be able to deal with it…"_

_Kenshin's head dropped a little. His had fingered a small item in his pocket as he suddenly remembered. He pulled it out and looked at it a moment before taking her hand in his and placing the item in her palm._

"_Kaoru, I want you to have this."_

_Kaoru took it and then re-opened her palm to see a gorgeous golden heart locket placed there._

"_B-But Kenshin…I-I can't accept this! I…It's too much!"_

_  
Kenshin simply smiled._

"_For you it's not. Just keep it. As a gift from me to you." _

_Kaoru's eyes brightened up again and threw her arms around Kenshin in a tight hug as tears flooded down her cheeks._

"_Thank you so much Kenshin…for everything." _

"_Sure thing."::_

Kenshin's eyes snapped open and he gasped. He quickly jolted his eyes back to the year book pictures. He now remembered that Kaoru was one of his high school best friends.

She was still there, smiling sadly in the picture. But although her face wasn't beautiful, her eyes made up for everything. They gleamed with a flame that seemed to burn brightly even in the colorless photo.

The memory that he just experienced seemed to just jog something in his mind that he locked away.

But for what reason…?

He was so wrapped up in his trying to remember the reason that when the microwave beeped to assure that his coffee was done he jumped back in his chair and fell over.

He quickly got up and fixed his chair before going to retrieve the coffee.

He quickly came back to the desk and sipped at his coffee while fervently searching through the yearbook pages.

While he was searching, his eyes crossed over a familiar face.

"…" He smiled and lightly traced the picture of his child hood best friend.

"Sano…"

He really needed Sano at the point. He was so stressed and tensed up he needed someone who could just let him relax. Sano always was the one to bail him out on sticky situations. He really needed him now.

He glanced at a few more faces that rang a bell.

"Soujiro Seta…Aoshi Shinomori."

They were all such good friends. And they all adored Kaoru's personality just as he did. He suddenly remembered how they thought they'd never break apart.

"What happened?! What the hell happened…?"

His mind kept on trying to decipher what made them go their separate ways.

As he ran a hand through his hair and sighed exasperatedly, his eyes, once again, spotted an almost repelling face.

Although her face was beautiful, her herself was not.

"Tomoe…"

Once again, Kenshin's memory bank seemed to open up again.

::_"Kenshin, what the hell's gotten into you, man? You're acting like we don't even matter to you anymore." _

_Kenshin looked at Sano in disbelief._

"_How could you say that, Sano? You, Soujiro, Aoshi, and Kaoru are my best friends! I'd never forget you guys!" _

_Sano only glared at him and snuffed. _

"_Oh yeah. Really. Then go ahead and tell him the news, Soujiro." _

_Usually, Soujiro's face was friendly and kind. Always holding a smile. But this time his eyes were painted dully and his face was saddened._

"_Yesterday was my mother's funeral, Kenshin. Everyone showed up except you. And you knew my mom the most. But you didn't even come to her funeral…" _

_Kenshin's eyes grew wide._

"_Yesterday? I thought it was next week!" _

_Soujiro only shook his head solemnly._

_Sano's glare continued to hang on Kenshin. He then turned to Aoshi and nodded._

_Aoshi nodded back and started to speak up as well._

"_Just last weekend was the weekend where all three of us get together once every three months and do everything we can to have fun in one night. You were busy with your girlfriend." _

_Kenshin was speechless. _

_Sano only stepped aside. Behind him was Kaoru. Her face was twisted with sadness and her eyes filled with crystalline tears._

"_It's ok, Jou-chan…you can tell him…"_

_Kenshin only looked at Sano strangely. _

"_Today…w-was my birthday…but you never even spared me a glance…"_

_Kenshin's breath finally caught in his throat. He then turned to Sano._

"_Well…what about you?"_

_Sano's face twisted into a snarl as he brought his hand back and swung his fist toward Kenshin, hitting him smack in the jaw. _

"_How many damn reasons do you need for us to prove that you're forgetting us, huh?!" _

_Kenshin recoiled and stumbled backward. He held his cheek tenderly as he looked up at Sano, almost in shock that he would do such a thing. _

_Sano slowly brought down the collar of his shirt to reveal a quarter sized hole. His eyes were shaded as he told Kenshin his reason._

"_Last night, walking home from Soujiro's mother's funeral, Kaoru realized she had forgot her purse back at the funeral home. I went with her to get it so she'd be safe. While we were walking back, a group of guys decided to surround us. One pulled out a gun and was just about to shoot at Kaoru before I deflected it with my shoulder, and punched the guy in the nose with my other hand…They all fled after that. I got down to my knees and gripped my shoulder, and happened to lift my head…_

_There you were…standing on the other side of the street. Walking with your girlfriend. The only damn reason I'm not in the hospital was because I was too enraged to think about the pain. The bullet went all the way through anyway. But you didn't even spare a passing glance."_

_Kenshin shook his head._

"_No! You're all wrong! You're just jealous because I have Tomoe and you don't even have a hooker looking at you!" _

_Before anyone could argue with him, Kenshin ran down the hall. _

"_Forget them! I don't need them! I have Tomoe now!" _

_He didn't' even look back as he left all of his best friends behind.::_

Kenshin's eyes, somewhere through the memory, formed tears. They streaked down his face as he realized what a fool he was and what he could still have if he had only seen earlier.

He rested his head onto the desk and did the only thing he could imagine doing at the moment.

He cried.


	3. Right on the Mark

Authors Notes: Thanks a lot, all of you! I'm so glad that you like my new story! I didn't expect to get so much positive feed back :)

Thanks so much-

**Reignashii**

**Blue feary**

**Bubble buddy**

**Monkeystarz**

**Legolasestelstar**

**Kitsune55**

**Horse-crazy-gurl**

**Unknown beedee**

**Battousaifriends**

**Melli-chan**

**Fantasy angel victoria**

**Half-breed-demon-fox**

**and special thanks to:**

**Kanzen Ne Tsuki for the support :)**

Thank you all for the reviews!

I've also had a couple requests **to post more to the chapters**. If anyone else thinks the same, don't be afraid to say so! I'll take any suggestions or constructive criticism. I mean, I do it all the time –sweat drop- :D;;

Chapter 3 – Right on the Mark

* * *

Kenshin's eyes slowly fluttered open. They were slightly glazed over from the long slumber that he awoke from. His eyes were a little heavy. He remembered then that he had cried until he just fell asleep.

He slowly lifted his heavy head off the computer desk, his coffee mug still in his hand. He rubbed his face slightly and then ran his hand back through his chin length locks.

He breathed in and stretched slightly, but just by doing so, his eyes caught site of the clock. He stopped in mid stretch and squinted his eyes slightly. He quickly looked over to the digital clock alarm by his bed.

The time read '10:19 pm'. Kenshin gasped and quickly got up and grabbed the small device and looked at it thoroughly.

"Oh, crap!"

Kenshin quickly dropped the small clock and ran out of the room. He dashed into the kitchen and grabbed his car keys, quickly getting on his light weight jacket and while speeding out the door and closing it, he caused the end of his jacket to get caught in the door way.

He quickly re-opened the door then closed it, locked it, then zipped to his car.

Hopping into it, he jammed the keys into the ignition and started his car. Backing out of the driveway rather recklessly, he sped down the road to where he was suppose to be nearly an hour ago.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man."

Kenshin would have bit at his fingernails if he had any length to them. He cursed and muttered darkly at any red light he encountered on the way, and he wouldn't bother with stop signs.

In record time, he made it to Kaoru's house. He almost mauled her mailbox when pulling into the driveway, and could have gotten whiplash with the abrupt stop.

He rushed out of his car and up to the front door. He knocked on in several times, trying to catch his breath. Kaoru opened the door and jolted back slightly.

"Mr. Himura!"

Kenshin almost fell through the doorway.

"I am so sorry, Mrs. Kamiya! You see, I-" Before he could finish his sentence, she cut him off by placing a finger to her lips.

"Shhh… They're all asleep." She whispered to him, a smile playing on her lips. Kenshin's eyes held confusion as he peeked into the living room where all the kids were sound asleep on either a couch, cushion, or chair.

"We just finished watching the movie 'Day after Tomorrow' and they all fell sound asleep. I'm glad I didn't wake Kenji when I moved since he fell asleep on my shoulder." She smiled and laughed quietly.

"You've got a wonderful son, Mr. Himura."

Kenshin's eyes widened slightly. His amethyst eyes glittered with delight at the comment. Finally, someone was seeing the side of his son that seemed to be under the mask all the time.

"Ugh…"

A small groan emitted from over near the couches. Kenji was groggily rubbing his eyes that were glossed over in a dreamy state. He shifted his head, looking around.

"…Kaoru?"

Kenji looked around for her and then finally, he drowsily turned around fully, spotting both Kaoru and his father near the door way. His eyes suddenly opened extensively.

"Dad!"

He quickly got up from the couch and rushed over to him, tackling him in an embrace around his fathers waist. Kenshin laughed a little, stumbling slightly from the sudden impact. He almost gasped in surprise. His son never did that. He simply smiled and ruffled his sons hair.

"Did you have fun?"

Kenshin wasn't expecting what came next. His sons eyes, for the first time in a very long time, sparkled with bliss as he bobbed his head up and down like a lighthearted child. The corners of Kenshin's mouth slowly dragged upward into a smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. Listen, I'm sorry I'm late, Kenji…"

Kenji, once again, surprised his father with his reaction. He just kept a vibrant smile on his face while shaking his head.

"It's alright. I didn't' even notice what time it was…- wait…I _still _don't know what time it is…" Kenji just shifted his gaze over to the left slightly, clearing his throat embarrassedly.

Kaoru and Kenshin shared a small laugh while Kaoru told him it was 10:32. Kenji's eyes widened as he scratched the back of his head.

"Geez, you _are _late, dad."

Kenshin laughed nervously as he rubbed his neck. He then stood up fully and beamed at Kaoru. He placed a hand on Kenji's head.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kamiya. I really appreciate you taking Kenji in on such short notice."

She smiled sweetly and nodded.

"Please, call me Kaoru. For one, I'm not married, and two, 'Mrs. Kamiya' makes me sound old." She stuck her tongue out playfully while laughing slightly. Kenshin smiled as well and nodded.

"Alright, um… Kaoru."

It was a bit awkward to call her by her name. He hadn't talked to her in a true conversation since high school. It felt so strange, thinking this was your best friend you're talking to and you can't even get comfortable.

He held out his hand while Kaoru reacted quickly by picking up her arm and placing her slender hand in his, gripping it in a friendly shake.

Kenshin's mouth cocked into an awkward grin as he pulled back from the shake. He then slowly turned around and started for the door, Kenji by his side.

"Hey dad, hold on a sec."

Kenshin stopped and looked at his son. Kenji stopped and turned around and walked over to Kaoru and looked up at her before wrapping his arms around her waist in a hug. Kaoru simply smiled and rubbed her hand on his head.

"Thanks for everything today, Kaoru."

His comment was slightly muffled by her clothing. Kenshin just stared in awe. Kenji had never thanked, let alone hugged a care taker before. When Kenji pulled back, Kenshin could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Kenji was crying. There was a small wet patch on Kaoru's shirt where his face had been. But his face still held a smile. Kaoru's smile didn't falter either. It only grew brighter as she gave him a small noogie.

"You're welcome, kiddo. You're welcome here anytime."

Kenji nodded and returned to his position next to his father. Kenshin still couldn't figure out a reason as to why Kenji would be crying. Kenshin looked at his son a moment before looking back up to where Kaoru stood, arms folded, a pleasant smile on her face.

He just shook his head slightly and smiled, leading his son and himself out the doorway. He looked back and waved a goodbye, Kaoru waving back in response.

Once they were safely in the car and had drove out of the driveway, Kenshin turned to his son once he was stopped at a red light.

"Kenji… why were you crying…?"

Kenji just looked up to his dad and smiled the brightest smile Kenshin had ever seen in a long time.

"I was happy…"

Kenshin just continued to look at his son in confusion. Why would he be _that _happy…? Kenshin then snapped out of his thoughts when his son began to talk again.

"When I was at her house, I was expecting it to be all the same. Demands and yelling; talked to as if I don't know the A,B,C's; constant chores and nothing fun to do."

Kenshin was still in astonishment from what he was hearing from his son. Was this truly what all babysitters did? Or was it only the one's _he _hired? When he was younger, he never had babysitters…

"But Kaoru was different. She didn't want us to call her by her last name because she wanted to be seen as a friend, not as someone in charge of all of us like she owned us. Those were her words. And we didn't run around all doing chores while she watched the T.V."

Kenshin was just about to say something when he was interrupted by a loud honking behind him. He then noticed that the light had turned green and quickly stepped on the gas. The man behind him looked as though he was going to murder him, but thanks to Kenshin's daze, the light had stayed green long enough and turned orange just as Kenshin stepped on it, leaving the man behind another red light.

Kenshin sighed in relief and shook his head. Things were just so out of line today. But despite the odd incident, Kenji continued to speak his mind.

" She let us be ourselves. She let us be _kids. _Because that's what we are. We're kids. Not adults. And we just need time to be kids. We need to fool around and cause chaos. Because it comes back to bite you when you're older. She said that the people who were never allowed to _be _a kid, turnout to have a very rough future…"

Kenshin lowered his head a little. He could agree with that fact. Although he may not be in debt or live on the streets or some such, he didn't live the life of luxury he would have liked…

-Flash back-

"_Kenshin, stop that right this instant and go to bed!"_

_A young boy, around the age of five, sat on the cold wooden floor of the city orphanage. His glittering lavender eyes looked up to the livid woman who stood in the doorway to the room of all the orphans._

"_It's late and you should be in bed, young man!" _

"_But Mrs. Iruna, I'm not sleepy." _

_His five-year-old childish voice was heartwarming, yet true. He looked up from the small spinning top that had slowly wobbled to a stop. The older lady's angry gaze didn't waver as she stomped over to wear he sat on the floor_

_His eyes flooded with fear as they slowly sprouted ready-to-fall tears as he tried to scramble up to his feet to flee. The slippery wood floor against his torn socks prevented him from doing so. _

_She picked him up and bent him over her knee. He bit his lip as she lifted her wrinkled old hand and slapped him several times over his tender bottom. But not once did he let out a cry. She placed him in his bed, not bothering to tuck him in, and ordered him to stay there or else._

_Once she walked out of the room, and all was silent, the little boy finally let the tears fall from his eyes. He longed for the loving touch his mother used to give him, and the deep, yet soothing laughter his father made whenever he would do something silly._

_And slowly, clutching the last gift from his parents to him closely, he fell asleep; the top still clutched in his small hands._

-End of Flashback-

"Hey dad?"

Kenshin jerked out of his thoughts from his past and looked at his son.

"Yes?"

"Don't you think so?"

Kenshin cocked his head to the side. He must have not caught Kenji's question.

"Think what?"

"That Kaoru is pretty and really nice."

Kenshin stuttered slightly with his words. He couldn't find anything to say that would sound like a proper response to the question his son was asking him so bluntly. Kenshin shrugged his shoulders multiple times and stuttered with 'ums' and 'uhs'. Kenji smiled and turned back to facing forward.

"Yeah, I thought so."

Kenshin turned to his son.

"W-what are you talking about?"

Kenji sighed and rolled his eyes, resting his cheek on his hand that was perched on the door, propped up by his elbow.

"Dad, it's sooo obvious!"

Kenshin continued to exchange confused glances from the road to his son. What was he talking about? Kenshin simply shook his head to indicate that he had no clue what his son was trying to hint to him.

"Kenji, I don't know what you mean."

Kenji rolled his eyes again and looked at his dad, eyes half mast.

"You like Kaoru."

Kenshin's eyes widened. Was his son serious?! He just couldn't be! Kenshin came back with a retort, stumbling over his words, his face painted with a tinge of red.

"Kenji you can't- I don't- ugh, we've only known her for a day!! How can you- Kenji, that's absurd."

Kenji simply smirked slyly and snickered while Kenshin shifted uncomfortably in his seat, glaring at the road in front of him.

"Ha…I knew it."

Kenshin gave Kenji a look of surprised annoyance, much like the look teachers get when they assign a project that applies reading 100 pages about Vincent van Gogh and his life about cutting off his ear and mailing it to his lover.

"Kenji, you don't know how ridiculous you sound right now!!"

The smirk on Kenji's face never faltered.

"When does admitting that you love someone after a day not ridiculous?"

Kenshin tried to reply back to that, but found himself stumped. He was just silenced by his son. Now if that didn't look bad, he didn't know what did. Then again, next to Van Gogh's desperate attempt to flatter his lover with his ear, he didn't look too bad.

With Kenshin's silence, Kenji scoffed again and shook his head in confidence. Kenshin finally thought of something to say after his son's cheerful reaction, however.

"Then why are _you _so happy? I'm not admitting that I do, because I don't, but tell me why you don't seem to have a problem with it, eh?"

Kenji stopped his snickering and became silent. Kenshin looked over at him and was surprised when he saw how serious his son seemed at the moment.

"Well…I guess I was just…fanaticizing..."

Kenshin glanced at his son and tapped the steering wheel thoughtfully.

"About what, pray tell?"

Kenji swayed his head from left to right and replied hesitantly.

"Well…I- ahh, forget it."

Kenshin ushered his son to keep going.

"Well… you know…" Kenji's voice started to twist into a dreamy like state as his gaze drifted off else where.

"…I've always…wondered what it would be like…to have a mom…"

Kenshin's heart almost stopped. Was his son thinking about being deprived of the motherly touch? Was he thinking about where he came from? Was he plotting to trick him into telling himself where his biological mother is, and whom she may be?!

"W-why is that…?"

Kenji's face twisted in thought.

"Well…I dunno, I just thought it'd be nice…I mean…I've seen you often at the dinner table late at night just sitting there with your elbows on it. You have the hanging light on and that's it, and you have your hands laced together and your resting your chin on them…you look like your in deep thought, dad…"

Kenshin lowered his head slightly.

"Yeah…well…- hey, what have you been doing up late out of bed!?"

Kenji rolled his eyes again.

"For one, the bathroom is downstairs, and two, you can't expect me to just stay in bed like a little goodie two-shoe."

Kenshin sighed and continued to look ahead of him. His thoughts began to buzz around in his head. Questions that he needed answers to, and answers that needed questions.

"Kenji, what makes you think I like Mrs. Kam-…Kaoru?" He had to get into the habit of calling her by her first name so she wouldn't be displeased…but why would _he _care?

"It's just the way you look at her, dad. I mean, you stare for moment, and your face goes red just slightly. You always seem to have a smile on your face when around her, and you act clumsy. You know, the works."

Kenshin jerked back in surprise.

"I…I do?" He never noticed it. He couldn't feel himself blushing, or smiling too much. But then again, the muscles in his cheeks _did _feel slightly sore.

Kenshin just shook his head, denying his own thoughts.

"Kenji, you're just seeing things."

Kenji just smiled and stared out the window. He could tell his dad was denying it. He just wondered if he would ever admit it.

"Feh…like that'd ever happen."

Kenshin looked over at his son.

"What was that…?"

Kenji simply shook his head and smiled a big innocent smile.

"Nothing, father…nothing at all…"

* * *

Lendra-chan: Well? What do you think? You like? You don't like? Please let me know

Review!!


	4. Pointers from the Pros

Authors Notes: Well, I just hit a tough request from tsumesgirl05. It's true, I should put more action into my chapters. I was planning to on this one anyway, but hey, no harm in getting a little back up on that!

I thank all of you who reviewed my story! I really appreciate it.

I'm really sorry about not updating my other stories ; Just some writers block on 'em is all. I'll get to 'em I promise.

Chapter 4 – Pointers from the Pros.

Tossing and turning under the heavy covers, Kaoru Kamiya lay awake in her bed. Her mind was filled with memories and flashes of…_his _face. She groaned and turned onto her back and sat up, her braided midnight hair falling over her shoulder.

She rubbed her face agitatedly and her hand fell upon the locket. She didn't shift her eyes to look at it. She didn't need to. She'd had it for so long it was branded in her mind. She fingered it slightly, running her fingers along the delicate golden patterns.

'_It couldn't be him, could it?'_

Kaoru questioned her judgment on the man that had suddenly re-entered her life. She was in denial, and she knew it. There couldn't be another man out there that had violet eyes, flaming hair, and the last name of Himura. The only thing new was a scar that was suddenly painted onto his left cheek.

Kaoru closed her eyes and envisioned him in her mind. She compared him from her high school years. It just couldn't be anyone different. The changes in him weren't that deep. But the scar on his face didn't actually clash with him. It gave him more of a depth in his handsome features. It almost made him seem…intimidating, yet alluring at the same time.

Kaoru smiled slightly at the vision. He was smiling gently and his gaze was directed toward her. Just like it was way back when. She then took a deep breath and sighed. She fell back onto her pillows roughly, groaning in frustration. She lifted her hands and dug her palms into her sleepy eyes.

She needed to get over him. He had a son, and most likely a lovely little miss at home. Kaoru's heart seemed to get a twinge of pain at the thought. He was happily married with a wonderful son and everything he could wish for, and she was running a daycare program as a maiden still stuck on her high school love.

Kaoru laughed slightly at herself. She'd probably stay that way for the rest of her life. But for some reason, she didn't seem to mind. She really loved kids, and the kids seemed to love her. And what was wrong with just a friendship between herself and Mr. Himura?

'_Heh…maybe he'll let me call him Kenshin.' _

She suddenly wondered just _who _Kenshin might be married to. Suddenly, she gasped and sat back up.

Kenji said he was twelve years old…

And Kenshin and Tomoe were together since Kenshin was fifteen.

Kaoru closed her eyes and tried to do the math in her head. Nine months added onto Kenshin's age would be sixteen. Twelve more years after that…

Kaoru gasped as she opened her eyes wide.

Unless Kenshin cheated on Tomoe and happened to get dumped with a child or he considered adoption, Tomoe could most likely and probably be the mother of Kenji.

But…could they truly still be together? After all that time? Kaoru could clearly remember a brief conversation Tomoe had with her…_other _boyfriend about dumping Kenshin or something while she was making her way to another class.

She tried to re-call what was said.

-Flash Back-

_Kaoru had just made her way out of the crowded classroom, the last one as usual. Her Senior year of high school sure wasn't easy. The constant slipping of her glasses off the bride of her nose and the bunches of books piled in her arms didn't mix too well._

_She had gained a slight increase on her self-esteem with her beauty streak finally kicking in and her braces removed. She surely did notice a little more attention than usual. And her hair was more retained. It was glossy and neat and pulled back into a high pony-tail rather then her old neck bun. _

_As she made her way from the emptied classroom into an empty hallway, a familiar, sickening voice could be heard from just around the corner. _

"_Honey-babe, don't fret about it! You know that you're the only one for me."_

_Kaoru's eyes widened. She tried to regain her balance with her books and restrain from fixing her drooping glasses. _

"_But sugar-cake, it's all around the school! Everyone's talking about 'Tomoe and Kenshin' and you know how he alone pisses me off!"_

_They were talking about Kenshin. Kaoru had no doubt in her mind that Tomoe was the one with the female voice. Kaoru bit her lip and leaned up against a near by locker so she could eves drop on their little conversation. _

"_Yes I know, Akira. Once I'm done getting what I want from him, it will be out to the dog-house with little Kenshin."_

_Kaoru wanted to just stomp over to that little whore and slap her until she bled but she realized that Kenshin would be the one she would be dealing with, and this Akira guy as well. _

"_Oh you are just the little devil, aren't you." _

_There was a sly laugh and a small rustle of clothing._

"_You know it." _

_Kaoru could clearly make out grunts and groans, along with make out sounds, followed by the rustle of more clothing. She just wanted to puke. How could they even think of doing that where they were?_

"_Mmm…as much as I enjoy this honey-babe, we'll have to wait."_

_Kaoru was so lost in thought about how hurt Kenshin would end up being that she had just realized how off balance her books had become. Kaoru started to stumble slightly, trying to regain her balance. But it was too late. Her books had _

_come crashing down on the tile floor in a heap of clutter, the sound almost mocking her as it echoed through the hallways._

_She bit her lip and cursed under her breath. She quickly got down on her knees and tried to gather the mess into her arms. A boy turned around the corner to glare at her. Kaoru verified that this must have been Akira, Tomoe's true lover._

_She got up and backed away from him slightly._

_Tomoe also rounded around the corner._

"_Hey, that's Kenshin's little friend." _

_Akira's eyes flashed dangerously as he approached her, backing her into one of the lockers. Kaoru pulled her books closer to her chest as if to protect herself, leaving her glittering sapphire eyes to gaze fearfully into his._

"_You say one word about this to him…-"_

_He leaned over to her face until his right cheek was brushing almost roughly against hers and whispered into her ear._

"_And you'll suffer the consequences…"_

_She shuddered as she felt the disgusting slide of his tongue glaze around her ear and near her neck. She clamped her eyes shut and willed it to go away. He smirked and drew away from her._

"_Keep your pretty little mouth shut and all will be well, Kamiya…" _

_Apparently, he knew her. She just trembled as he glared at her. Tomoe was smirking in the background._

"_C'mon Akira. Let her off with a warning at least."_

_Kaoru tried to back away but the metal locker behind her prevented her from doing so._

_Akira smirked and walked closer to Kaoru until their bodies were pressed against each other. Kaoru winced and wanted to gag. She could feel his leg pressed against herself and it was making her sick. _

_She gasped as she felt his hand trial it's way up her side to her chest._

_Akira chuckled darkly as he cupped one of them in his hand. Kaoru shuddered and screeched at him, frantically trying to get him to stop his violating ministrations. _

"_Stop it! Get away!"_

_He smirked and stepped away from her._

"_That was simply a warning…the real punishment…will be much worse…" _

_Kaoru watched them walk away, and her knees finally gave out on her. It didn't make any difference if she told Kenshin anyway…he wouldn't listen to her…not anymore…_

-End of Flashback-

Kaoru closed her eyes as she tried to unclamp her suddenly tightened fists. Kenshin was the sweetest, most kind person she had ever met in her life, not to mention handsome. She couldn't believe just how easily Tomoe played him into thinking that she loved him, and somehow got him wrapped around her little finger.

If something had happened and Kenshin was alone, Kaoru could only imagine the pain his heart must have went through when he finally understood how Tomoe didn't even care about him.

She hadn't even realized when it happened, but she lifted a hand to wipe away the tears that had streaked down her face.

'Oh, I'm hopeless…' 

Kaoru's mind started to get a little hazy. Maybe now she would sleep. She laid back down onto the fluffy mattress and snuggled deep into it's comfy covers. Oh how she wished she could see his face right now…

Kaoru groggily got out of her bed that morning. Oh man, was she sore. She had barely got a wink of sleep. She was too busy thinking about Kenshin and just what had happened in the last 12 years of his life.

She stretched and tried to shake off the sleep that seemed to linger. She yawned and headed to the kitchen. The kids would arrive in two hours or so, and she needed to make breakfast. She opened the fridge and took out a milk carton.

She paused and looked at the milk in her hands. She sighed and placed it back in the fridge. On second thought, she'd rather not poison the kids with her…_food. _

She sighed as she decided just to grab her keys and go buy some breakfast instead. Her pj's weren't anything too out of the ordinary. It was one of those silky little dress night gowns that were cut toward the middle thigh and nice for hot summer nights. She threw on her long over coat so the people that were actually up at this hour in the shopping mart wouldn't mistake her as some hooker.

She headed to the bathroom and brushed her hair quickly and smoothed it out before she headed toward the door. She slipped on simple flip-flops, and put her hand on the knob and turned, opening the door.

She was just about to step out when she realized that there was someone at the door. She jerked back and looked up to see none other than Kenshin, hand raised, ready to knock.

"Oh! M-Mr. Himura!"

Kenshin blushed and lowered his hand slowly. He glanced down at what she was wearing and a tinge of red was painted across his face.

"U-Um…"

Kaoru looked at him, confusion written in her eyes. Kenshin averted his gaze as he pointed down at what she was wearing and how the jacket didn't seem to cover it completely. Kaoru looked down and blushed greatly, fiddling with the closing of her coat and folding it shut.

"So…um…What might you be doing here…?"

Kaoru tried to sound polite when she asked the question without making a fool of herself. Kenshin rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well…I actually came to uh…thank you for yesterday…"

Kaoru cocked her head to the side.

"Thank me? Mr. Himura, you already thanked me and I appreciate it, but why-"

Kenshin shook his head to interrupt her.

"No…I meant for complimenting on my son…"

Kaoru still held her confused gaze as she just shook her head.

"Mr. Himura, what I said was the truth. There's no need to thank me."

Kenshin smiled and nodded his head in agreement. He then took one step off of her front steps to her door and pointed to his car.

"Well…uh, I better be going…it _is _early and all and I _do _have work…"

Kaoru nodded her head before her eyes widened. She quickly reached out and grabbed Kenshin's arm before he could walk any further.

"Wait! You can cook, right?"

Kenshin nodded and turned back to face her.

"Yes, why?"

"C'mere!"

Kaoru dragged him into her house and closed the door.

"Oro! Kaoru, what are you doing?"

Kaoru took a deep breath.

"Listen…I sorta can't cook. That's why I was just about to leave so I could go get some breakfast for the kids…"

Kenshin cocked his eyes brows and tilted his head to the side and scratched his head.

"_Sorta _can't cook?"

Kaoru huffed and threw her arms down exasperatedly.

"I _can't _cook! Ya happy!"

Kenshin laughed and placed two hands up in defense and stepped back a little.

"Calm down, calm down! So what you're saying is, you'd like me to help you with that…right?"

Kaoru rubbed her feet together shyly and nodded her head.

"Yeah…"

He laughed and smiled.

"Sure, why not. Kenji refuses to get out of bed anyway so I don't see any reason for me to go rushing home."

Kaoru smiled brightly at him but then caught herself.

"Hey, I thought you said you had work…"

Kenshin gulped and tugged at the collar of his shirt and looked off to the side. Kaoru's face then scrunched into a scowl as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Let me guess. You were saying that so you could just go one and leave, right?"

Kenshin's eyes widened and shook his head frantically. He just didn't want to seem rude and stay there, expecting her to invite him in. He never suspected her to get insulted by that!

"No, no! That's not it at all! I just didn't want you to think that I was inviting myself in is all!"

Kaoru looked at him sternly as if to question his reasoning. She then shrugged her shoulders as to indicate that she accepted his answer. He sighed in relief and smiled.

"Now. Where might your frying pans be?"

All the kids had arrived an hour after Kenshin helped prepare the breakfast. Kaoru couldn't believe just how well he was with his hands! She really wondered why he didn't become a master chef.

Kaoru was greeted by Kenji with a tackle of a hug while she ruffled his hair, and all the other kids just piled on top of her in a group hug.

'_Oh, how the time flies when you are having fun.'_

Kaoru registered how it was already noon. The kids were happily chowing down on some pizza she ordered while she awaited some company that was suppose to show up any time-

"Tanuki!"

Kaoru cringed. Ah, yes. They have arrived. She lifted her head to see her friend standing in the doorway looking as pretty as ever. Her long black hair let loose and her slender form and a dab of lipstick on her lips along with her alluring eyes.

"Hello to you too, Megumi."

"Kao-chan!"

Kaoru perked up a little and looked over beside Megumi to see a smaller girl with a large braid behind her with shimmering turquoise eyes.

"Oh, Misao-chan!"

Kaoru smiled and waved. She loved both of her friends just the same. But Misao didn't insult her like Megumi tended to. They both sat down next to her at the table. Megumi smirked.

"So, you're still looking after kids? Can't get any of your own?"

Kaoru glared and spat her tongue out at the fox.

"You shut up, you."

Misao giggled and placed her elbow on the table and perched her head on her palm.

"So, Kao-chan, what have you been up to? I've been so excited to see you lately! With you watching over all these kids, it's hard to see you now."

Misao pouted and gave Kaoru a sad gaze. Kaoru laughed and nodded.

"Well…actually I think that someone I once knew, well he sort of…_re-entered _my life, you know?"

Megumi and Misao exchanged glances at each other before looking back at Kaoru with a devious smile on both of their faces.

"Oh really? And who might _he _be…?" Megumi asked with a flash in her eyes.

Kaoru caught on to what they were implying and blushed deeply while frantically waving her hands in front of her face and shaking her head from side to side.

"No, no! That's not what I meant!"

Misao grinned mischievously.

"How did he re-enter your life, huh?"

Kaoru looked away and rubbed her arm slightly. It would be so embarrassing to say that she had a crush on the father of a kid she watched over. Her hesitation caused a slight flaw in their expressions.

"Hey…Kao-chan, what's wrong? Did I say something I shouldn't have?"

Kaoru shook her head and smiled at Misao.

"No, no, it's nothing."

Megumi looked at Kaoru expectantly. Kaoru cleared her throat uneasily as Megumi continued to inspect her, looking her up and down. She finally stopped and closed her eyes, folding her arms.

"Tanuki's hiding something."

Kaoru jerked backward a little. She grumbled and pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at nothing.

'_How can she always see right threw me!' _

Misao looked at Megumi then back at Kaoru.

"Is that true, Kao-chan?"

Kaoru shifted her shoulders uncomfortably and cocked her head to the side, rubbing her neck again. She couldn't admit that her high school love, who had a _son _on less, had just made a re-entrance in her life.

"Guys, listen. It's nothing. I just knew him from high school and he now brings him son here for his work da-"

"Oh, he has a son! You mean he's married!" Megumi almost wanted to snicker.

Kaoru repelled and shook her head frantically.

"No, no! I don't mean like that! I mean…I don't know if he's married or not…"

Kaoru lowered her head a little while Misao and Megumi exchanged looks. They then nodded to each other and each took one of Kaoru's arms. Kaoru, surprised, looked up at both of them.

"What are you doing?"

Megumi and Misao stood up and started to drag her into her bedroom. Megumi held her nose high in the air.

"We need to have a talk with you."

"B-But, guys, you don't understand-"

Misao and Megumi seemed to tune her out as they continued to drag her into the bedroom.

Kenji came out of the living room and into the kitchen smiling and licking his fingers, a little bit of pizza sauce spread on his face.

"Hey, Kaoru, could I have another piece of-"

Kenji stopped mid-sentence and looked around to see that the kitchen was empty.

"….Kaoru?"

Kenji then stopped and stood up straight. He paused a moment before shrugging his shoulders and happily sauntering over to the fridge in search of some more pizza.

Misao and Megumi placed Kaoru down onto her bed and stood up, towering over her. They placed both hands on their hips and Misao tapped her foot.

"Explain everything." Came Misao's forceful answer.

Kaoru sighed. She knew she couldn't compete with _both _of them. Especially in her current state of emotion. She took a deep breath and explained everything that she could to them.

From her friendship to his relationship, from their departure to his disappearance. Everything that she knew and remembered. She couldn't tell exactly why she would find it to be of any use but they demanded to know.

Misao's and Megumi's expression was that of awe, surprise, and pity. It was no wonder Kaoru was in such a daze. With a big change happening in her life like that one.

Megumi finally spoke up.

"Well, tanuki, it seems as though you've got yourself quite the dilemma."

Kaoru sighed and buried her hands in her hair and lowered her head so that they rested on her legs while she mumbled a 'm hm' in agreement.

Misao then chirped and winked while giving a thumbs up.

"Well, we can help you with that, Kao-chan!"

Kaoru slowly turned her head to look up at Misao.

"Really…?"

Megumi smiled sincerely and kneeled down and looked at Kaoru. She then reached out and grabbed the locket on Kaoru's neck. Kaoru stuttered a little, nervous as to what she would do with it.

"I presume…that he still really means a lot to you, considering you still wear it…"

Kaoru paused before she nodded.

"Yes, it is…because he gave it to me after my family was killed, and my house burnt down…it was his own mothers locket. I…couldn't believe how he could just…_give _it to me like that…after what happened to him…"

Megumi smiled mischievously.

"Well you obviously meant a lot to him."

Kaoru blushed and looked off to the side. But she hid the smile that had so suddenly crept onto her face.

"All you have to do is show him that you like him back! And we know just how to do that!"

Misao's little ping of advice made Kaoru look up at her. Was she for real? Kaoru took a deep breath. Although she didn't quite like the feel of where this was going, she couldn't help but also get the feeling that she'd much regret this if she didn't do it.

"Alright…so…what do I do."

Misao and Megumi both exchanged sly looks at eachother.

"Alright. Listen, and listen good…"

Lendra-chan: Well everyone, that sure was long! I tried to put more action in than conversation . But anyway, I wanted to tell you guys of another song!

Well, four.

Blink 182 – Always

Blinks 182 – I'm lost without you

John Mayer – 3x5

John Mayer – 83

They're such good songs! I'm in love with them all! Anyway, please review!

OH! And a little advice for you all. In Kaoru's senior year, they're all pretty young. They're not like 17-18, they're more around 15-16. Sooo just to answer all your doubts about that senior year thing…-ahem- yeah…

Review:D;;;


	5. Just a little bit Closer

Authors Notes: Hey guys! I'm sorts in school right now, but when the time comes to go home since I have only around a half an hour, I'll e-mail it home :)

Anyway, I thank all of you for the reviews! I'm really glad how well this story is going. I'm thinking about having Kaoru's house located near the ocean!

Anyway, this is chapter 5.

Chapter 5 – Just a little bit Closer

-

Kaoru paced around the kitchen in annoyance. How could they even _think_ of her doing all those things! Maybe one of them was actually a considering suggestion but every other one was just plain barbaric.

The advice was re-run in her mind. They were the following:

Have Kenji call you 'mom' when Kenshin is around – No

Flirt with Kenshin, try and catch his attention – No

'Accidentally' have him catch you in something skimpy – Already done and seriously an accident. No.

Ask Kenshin out one night and get closer – Wasn't it the guys job? No.

Talk to him.

The last of their advice was actually something Kaoru could consider doing. She had had a nice conversation with him the former morning before he left to pick up Kenji and bring him over and she was sure that he wouldn't mind doing it again.

Kaoru nodded her head. She decided to take the last of their advice and have a talk with Kenshin.

"Kaoru, there you are!"

Kaoru squeaked in surprise when a boy's voice interrupted her thoughts. She jumped a little and turned around to see Kenji standing in the open double-door entrance to the living room.

"Oh, h-hey kiddo! What can I do for you?"

Kaoru tried to re-gain her composure.

"Where were you at lunch time?"

Kaoru quickly glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly 5:00pm and that noon seemed to just slip by without her even noticing. Did it really take them that long to explain things to her?

"I was…in my room, is all."

Kenji cocked his head to the side in confusion and crossed his arms.

"For almost two and a half hours?"

Kaoru laughed nervously and nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. Kenji just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well anyway, Yahiko is teaching me how to play poker so I'm just gonna go."

Kaoru laughed and nodded. Yahiko always had a way of entertaining the other kids with his little card games. She sighed as she flashed back on just how he learned those things.

Although the games were fun, the learning sessions definitely weren't…

-Flash Back-

_Kaoru was quickly jogging down the sidewalk to her house, the sky readying a thunderstorm. She clung to her over-coat and quickened her pace. Her cell phone battery had given out on her so she couldn't phone Megumi who was closer by than her house. _

_Her house was located somewhat near the shore-line of the ocean. Although it wasn't bare with just grass and sand, and some trees did grow around her yard, the risk of the thunderstorm disturbing the waves just right made Kaoru's heart do a small flip flop._

_She was just about to quicken the pace when a cry drowned out the thunder. _

"_No, please, don't!"_

_The plea of a young boy rang out through the rumbling of the heavens. Kaoru stopped in her tracks and looked around._

"_Hello?" _

_Kaoru frantically turned and whipped her head around to find the source of the cry. She ran back the way she came, looking all around the alleys and in between houses to where she heard it._

"_Please, stop it!"_

_Kaoru ran toward the voice and ran by an alley. She stopped, eyes widened. She saw a young boy being crowded by older men. They had weapons in their hands; Such as sticks or metal bars._

_A young boy was huddled in the back of the alley, pressed against the brick wall fearfully. His face was bloody and bruised from being beaten on. He had fear written in his chocolate brown eyes and he trembled as they crept closer to him._

_Kaoru couldn't let this happen. She didn't think about the consequences as she stepped forward, hands clenched. _

"_Stop this!"_

_The men stopped in their tracks and turned around. Kaoru identified that the leader of the group was the one who was one who just seemed to be watching. He gave Kaoru the elevator eyes, looking her up and down before he turned around fully._

"_And what are you gonna do 'bout it…" He smirked as he licked his lips and chuckled at his coming comment. "Slap us…?"_

_Kaoru glared as she reached into her pocket and grabbed her cell phone. She slowly pulled it out, flipping up the lid. The men seemed to catch on and their eyes widened. She pressed the buttons '911' and let her thumb hover over the 'send' button._

"_One more press of a button,… and you'll be behind bars in a matter of minutes…"_

_The leader of the group's faced darkened as he cursed under his breath. He signaled for his followers to move out. They quickly scattered and the leader just glowered at Kaoru._

"_We'll get you back for this…"_

_He snarled at her and then ran off. Kaoru took a deep, shaky breath. She thanked the gods that they had bought her bluff. She quickly rushed over to the boy in need._

"_Are you alright?" _

_The boy grunted and turned away; too stubborn to admit his weakness. Kaoru smiled sadly and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to wince slightly. Kaoru noticed a slight shiver from his body from the coming weather and his torn clothing and quickly shrugged off her over coat and placed it over his shoulders._

"_There you go."_

_The boy mumbled a small 'thanks' and tugged the cloth closer to himself. _

"_Why…did you help me…"_

_Kaoru barely heard his slightly demanding question because it was whispered and raspy. Kaoru didn't even skip a beat as she smiled and placed her arms on her knees._

"_I wasn't going to let them take advantage of you. Besides. You weren't the only one at risk if they didn't leave."_

_The boy raised his head and looked at her with confusion riddled in his chocolate eyes. Kaoru smiled nervously as she held up her cell phone to him to reveal that there was nothing on the screen, indicating that the battery was long gone. _

_His eyes widened and he looked between the cell phone and her. _

"_You mean…you were bluffing…?" _

_Kaoru laughed a little and rubbed the back of her neck, nodding. The boy looked down, hiding his eyes again as his shoulders began to tremble. Kaoru quickly placed her hand on one of his shoulders._

"_Are you still cold?"_

_The boy shook his head as he raised a hand and rubbed them against his shaded eyes. When he brought his hand back down, his tan arm was slightly dampened. He was crying._

_Strangely, Kaoru felt as though she didn't need to console him. She simply smiled and placed a hand on his head and rubbed slightly._

"_Do you have any parents…?"_

_The boy shook his head solemnly. Kaoru smiled again and ruffled his messy black hair._

"_Don't worry, kiddo…you can stay with me."_

_Even though the boy knew that he should be praising her at the moment, or hugging her, or something that thanked her, he couldn't help himself correct her._

"_...I'm not a kid…my name's Yahiko Myojin…"_

_Kaoru laughed and nodded. She smiled once more as she stood up and lent a hand to Yahiko and awaited him to take it. The thunder roared yet again, almost warning them that the storm was going start whether or not they were sheltered. _

_Yahiko hesitantly took it and she hauled him up. _

"_C'mon. if we hurry back to my house, we can tend to your wounds and avoid the rain."_

_He paused a moment. He looked at the face of the woman who saved him and this time, he didn't wipe away the tear that had strolled down his cheek. He smiled brightly and nodded his head. Kaoru smiled as well as she then turned back front to the sidewalk and started to make her way back to her house again._

_Questions filled her head. Such as what was this boy doing in such a group and not an orphanage? Or what caused them to get so angry? Did he try to escape? She was so caught up in trying to figure out why he was in the state he was, that she didn't even noticed the raindrops that had slowly started to fall. _

_Kaoru paused a moment and then focused her eyes. She realized that it had started to rain, finally. _

"_Shoot!"_

_Without further ado, Kaoru sprinted into a run, still tugging the young boy behind her. She chuckled to herself. Well, at least she'd still be able to tend to his wounds and nothing could prevent her from that. She felt warm, knowing someone else other than herself was finally going to be present in her lonely house-hold. _

_Even if it was a young boy. There's nothing wrong with taking care of someone. Nothing at all…_

-End of Flashback-

Kaoru sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. Yahiko had spent some time observing the group of men that had him as their 'slave', watching them play poker and learning in the process.

Suddenly, a knocking on her door brought her out of her thoughts. She quickly ambled over to her door and opened it. To her surprise, Kenshin was standing in the doorway. The surprise on her face must have been obvious because a small chuckle arose from Kenshin.

"Mr. Himura! What are you doing here so soon?"

Kaoru stepped aside and let Kenshin come in. Kenshin simply chuckled again and smiled as he took off his coat and held it in his arms. Kaoru offered to take it and Kenshin loosened his grip on it. Kaoru hesitantly took it, her hands accidentally brushing against his arms as she gathered the coat in her own.

She turned around and walked toward the coat rack, her face slightly flushed red. At times like these, she was glad that her coat rack wasn't next to the door. She regained her composure and turned back to face him as he told her the reasons of his early arrival.

"Well, supposedly my boss could see how 'tired' I was because I was late showing up for work and so he sent me home to 'rest'."

A frown laced Kaoru's lips.

"Mr. Himura, were you late because you helped me cook breakfast?"

"No, I wasn't late because I helped, I was late because _I cooked_ breakfast."

Kenshin gave off a small grin when Kaoru scowled and punched him half heartedly in the arm. She then sighed and sat back down by one of stools by her bar-like-table.

"Hey don't worry about it. It's no big deal. Actually, I should do this more often. It's nice to be let off early."

Kenshin smiled as he shoved his hands into the tightly sewed fabric of his jean pockets. Kaoru smiled and shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she wouldn't mind participating in that event.

"Well, I can get Kenji if you like, but he's in the middle of a learning session of poker. Teacher: Yahiko." Kaoru laughed slightly.

Kenshin shook his head.

"No, that's alright. I just stopped by. I actually should probably get going. I don't want to intrude."

Kaoru shook her head frantically.

"No, no, you're not intruding at all! It's actually nice to have someone my age to have a conversation with."

Kaoru smiled and laughed a little bit when Kenshin shrugged his shoulders and scuffed his feet a little bit on the floor.

Kenshin rubbed his arm awkwardly. It felt so strange. He didn't know what to say to start another conversation. Something about Kenji? Nah, it would be too…pressured. Almost as if he were trying to impress her or something of the sort…

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

The question had caught Kenshin off guard a little bit. He shook his head a little to clear his mind as he blinked a few times as if to wake himself from his small daze.

"Pardon?"

Kaoru simply shrugged her shoulders and shifted her gaze here and there and a light pink blush spread across her face. She cleared her throat slightly and repeated her question.

"Would…you like to go for a stroll or…something?"

Kenshin's eyes widened. He then shrugged and his shoulders, a smile played on his face.

"Sure. Why not?"

Kaoru smiled brightly and walked over to the door and opened it. She ushered for him to follow and he did so. She closed the front door and started to make her way down the shore line of the beach. Kenshin followed hastily, avoiding the large sand mounds so not to get sand in his shoes.

Kaoru walked all the way to where the tide swayed in and out and the sun had started to dip under the horizon. She hadn't put on her shoes so she wouldn't have to go through the hassle of getting them off. She splashed some of the water with her bare feet and turned around and started to giggle slightly.

Kenshin had plunked down onto the sand and was haphazardly wrestling with his shoes, trying to remove them. She placed a hand over her mouth as she felt a stronger laugh come about. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted to him;

"Try untying them first!"

Kenshin stopped his grappling and stared at her a moment, his foot still in his hand. He slowly looked at his shoe and pulled the lace, the bow coming undone and slowly slid the shoe off. He then slowly looked back at her before his shoulders slumped down and an annoyed look appeared on his face before untying the other.

Kaoru laughed again and waited until he was finished. Once he had removed his socks, he stood up and sauntered over to where Kaoru awaited, the tide splashing up against the back side of her feet. They started to walk side by side.

"So…what's happened the last twelve years of your life…?"

Kaoru broke the silence again with a question that just seemed to never leave her mind. It was starting to bug her, yet now that she asked it, it almost seemed as though she was asking too much.

Kenshin just bit his lip and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, you know…just the usual. Taking care of Kenji, working,..."

Kaoru simply nodded her head. She knew now that they both were on the same level. Not as parent and baby sitter, but like high school class mates. She sighed just slightly and looked over her shoulder and gazed at the sun that was slowly dipping under the ocean's horizon.

"…It's beautiful, isn't it…"

Kenshin smiled and looked at the sunset for a second. He then looked at Kaoru and his smiled deepened while his eyes glittered brightly.

"…Yeah…"

Kaoru laughed a little and turned her head back and looked at Kenshin to find him staring at her. She finally got the message and blushed and quickly continued walking. Kenshin only chuckled as he jogged to catch up with her.

-

Kenji had just finished his learning session of poker from Yahiko. He snickered as he thought about how he was going against his dad's will. He had a feeling his dad probably wouldn't' approve of learning a gambling game but oh well.

He stood up and stretched. He then looked around slightly. He could have sworn he heard his fathers voice a little while ago...

"…Dad?"

Yahiko tapped Kenji on the shoulder. Kenji turned around and looked at him. Yahiko smiled as he pointed to a near-by-window that viewed the back 'yard' of the house. Kenji made his way over to the window and peaked out.

Down below on the shore of the beach, his father was walking side by side with his care taker and it looked as though they were chatting about something…

'_Wait_…' 

Kenji squinted his eyes a little to get a better view. His eyes then widened as he registered what he picked up. It looked more like his father was…_teasing _his care taker, rather than chatting with her. Kaoru's face was slightly red while his father's face was gleaming brightly, his mouth lifted up in a smirk.

Slowly, a small smile crept onto his lips. His eyes softened as he watched them. That was probably the first time he had seen his dad look so carefree. Relaxed. Actually enjoying himself.

Sure, Kenji had noticed his dad trying to get a wife, in his point of view, a step mother, but things never did turn out quite right. No one was really fit for his dad. He snorted with a smile. His dad was just one special kinda guy. Kenji's fists tightened in eagerness.

Maybe, just maybe, things would turn out right…

Maybe…he'd finally have…someone to call a 'mom'…

-

A/N- That's all for now! I'm sorry if this is short but I think it would end nicely right here! Anyway, please update!

Yeah, you know, that little button.

Right down There!


	6. Whispers of the Past

Authors Notes: Hello everyone! Sorry about not updating sooner! I've just been working on another new story that I'm gonna put up in the future. I'll give you a little sneak peak:

_**READ THIS: **_

Kamiya Kaoru has been made fun of all her life. Why? She believes in the extra terrestrial. As a photographer, she's been able to take shots of strange objects in the sky for proof, but no matter how hard she tries, she's always _wrong_ or _mistaken. _Little pictures won't convince anyone anymore. And she knows to get an advanced civilized creature from space is just barbaric. But with the help of a new found friend, her hopes go sky rocketing. Yet it's still impossible for the alien arrival as proof… Or is it…?

Sounds corny, but if you had _my _mind and knew what was going on, it wouldn't sound too bad :)

Anyway, thank you all, my reviewers! I love you all!

Chapter 6 – Whispers of the Past

o0o0o0o0o (the hyphen's aren't working anymore. -sobs-)

"Mr. Himura, please!"

The small pleas from Kaoru were lighthearted as she quickened her pace on the shoreline of the beach. Kenshin walked behind her, laughing merrily as he continued to tease her.

"And you remember the time when you bent over to blow the candles on your cake out, and your hair caught on fire? Oh that was price-less!"

(To let you all know, these are all life experiences. Yes. My hair caught on fire. No surprise that it would happen to me) Kaoru blushed as she grumbled and grabbed a small tendril of her hair and stared at it, remembering the singed ends. She sighed. It took forever for her hair to grow back to normal length.

"It took me a long time to forget that, Mr. Himura! Can't we _please _change the subject! H-How about the fact that I'm having a sleep over for all the kids here tonight! Y-Yes, did I mention that to you before? Kenji's welcome to stay, and you could stay if you feel it would be better for Kenji, Mr. Himura-"

Kenshin laughed with great mirth as his eyes sparkled, reflecting the golden gleam of the setting sun. He cackled as Kaoru gave him a scowl from his lack of seriousness and continued to stomp in front of him, leaving large footprints in the sand.

"C'mon Kaoru. Must you be so formal?"

Kaoru nodded and crossed her arms, lifting her nose into the air.

"Yes because it would be improper!"

Kenshin smiled and rolled his eyes, much like someone would when they were annoyed. He walked up to her, sliding his hands into the tight folds of his jean pockets as he grinned.

"But I call _you _Kaoru, don't I?"

Kaoru lowered her arms and looked partially down at the sand, pondering slightly.

"Well yes…"

Kenshin smiled as he took one hand out and elbowed her gently, his grin getting slightly cocky as his eyes drooped lower, looking at her slyly.

"Then why not call _me _Kenshin. Eh, eh?" He commented, nudging her twice in parallel with his 'eh' remarks. She blushed as she pouted just slightly.

"But…"

Kenshin rolled his eyes again.

"Oh c'mon. It's not _that _hard, is it?"

Kaoru's playful pout disappeared. She looked back up at him, her sapphire eyes meeting his amethyst. Small memories flooded back to her. Such as her time in high school with him when they were together, and when they would spend Saturday nights with each other.

And then he had to go and get hooked on that ragtag girl. Everything changed after that. She'd call his name and he'd just grunt and turn away and Saturday night get together's were absolutely forgotten. Her only support in her life was gone and she could barely make it through high school alive.

And her heart had been broken, none-the-less. No, that was an understatement. It had been shattered. Into a million pieces.

She thought it almost ironic. That the only whole heart she carried was around her neck. She brought a slender hand up to fiddle with the small item. She closed her eyes, remembering just how precious this was to both Kenshin and herself.

flashback-

"_Wow! Mama, you look boodiful!"_

_The influence of a young child glided through the small bedroom as a boy stood by his mothers dresser, his hands perched on the fine cherry wood furniture. He held an excited gleam in his eyes as his mother smiled down at him._

"_You think so?"_

_He bobbed his head up and down, answering her question; her voice fine like silk. She laughed gently as she brought her hand down to pet her son. He giggled blithely as she did so. His eyes drifted upward and landed on a piece of jewelry she had laced around her neck. _

"_Mama, what's that you're wearin' ?" _

_He questioned innocently. She followed with her own eyes to see he was gazing at her locket. She smiled. She reached behind her neck and unclasped the small item. She held the ends of the golden chain and let the charm dangle in front of her son's face as he gazed at it._

"_This, my dear, is the locket your father gave me."_

_The little boys face twisted in wonder while his violet-plumb eyes filled with curiosity._

"_Really? Is it special, Mama?" _

_His mother smiled and nodded her head._

"_It is, indeed special. He gave it to me on our first date and it captured my heart."_

_The young boy smiled brightly as he laughed and tapped the dangling heart with his small finger as it swayed slightly and he giggled. _

"_So **that's **why it's heart shaped, right Mama?" He question, cute childhood innocents in affect. His mother then smiled brightly as she drew her small boy into a tight hug._

"_Of course, little one." _

_He hugged his mother back tightly. He then drew away from her with a bright smile on his face as his eyes shown brightly as he looked her in the eyes._

"_Can **I **have it, Mama?" _

_His mother looked at him for a moment._

"_Why would you like it, dear?"_

_He giggled as he smiled again._

"_So I can win someone's heart one day!" _

_His mother looked at him seriously then. His face was so young. Childlike. But it was obvious with his previous comment that he was already maturing. She smiled as she nodded and placed the locket into his small hands and clasped her own hand around his._

"_Keep it safe. And give it to someone very special that you have found."_

_The little boy nodded and shouted little yips of glee and bliss as he danced around the room, the locket clutched in his small palm. His mother laughed gently as she watched her son. He was something special…_

End of Flashback-

Kaoru's eyes had glazed over with a glossy haze as her face lit up a gentle rose-red. Kenshin had told her that story on how he received the locket. That was before he had given it to her. Before _that _happened…

Flashback-

"_Kaoru, dear, we're heading out!" _

_Kaoru smiled brightly as she shouted back to them happily, seeing off her parents on a night out for them. They hadn't gone out in a while and she felt that it was good for their relationship to catch up on those lost times. She waved to them as they headed out the door._

_Entering their car, they started it up and backed up out of the driveway for a night of fun. They honked their horn while Kaoru waved back in the window. She smiled. Finally she had the house to herself. _

_Later on that night, Kaoru had thrown an easy cooking meal onto the stove. Chef Boyardee's spaghetti and meatballs. She stirred the meal in the pot as it heated on the stove, her other hand preoccupied with a remote as she flipped through channels on the kitchen TV. _

_Her eyes then caught sight of something…odd. She had stopped her channel flipping when it landed on the news channel. It seemed to be a report on a car accident…in her area of living. She stopped her stirring and walked over to the television. _

_Displayed on the screen was a man, the news reporter Kaoru identified, in a tan over coat as he spoke sternly to the camera's._

"_I looks as though we've had an accident. Apparently, a drunken driver ran a red light and crashed into this car unexpectedly. The crash seemed severe, the two vehicles been dragged across the street, their clashing ends totally destroyed. So far we've gotten fatal news that the two victims in the car have been mortally wounded by the impact and the drunken driver has amazingly, only received a head wound." _

_Kaoru's eyes never left the screen. She waited on end to hear the details of the car and the people inside. She bit her lip, dread running through her body._

"_The license plate of the two victims, 32J7 KL, a Toyota Camry. They seem to be a couple, a young man and woman. They are now being loaded into an ambulance, and rushed to the town's hospital. " _

_32J7 KL….that was the license plate of her father's Toyota Camry. Kaoru's hands shook, her face drained of any color. It just couldn't be…Maybe it was a misread. Millions of people lived in her area and drove Toyota's. The chance that her mother and father were the ones in the car were lower than 4, right?…Right…?_

_But reality hit her. It may have lower than 4…but it wasn't zero…it wasn't zero. Kaoru's heart fluttered faster and faster by the second. She tore away from the TV, forgetting her food that was now smoldering on the stove and rushed into her garage. She hopped onto her bike, opening her garage door and sped down her street to the Hospital._

_Her sight was blurred by tears as her legs peddled faster and faster, the dreadful adrenaline pumping her energy, sending it sky rocketing. _

_It slowly began to drizzle. The rain was light but it felt as though needles were piercing her skin. The slick roads were making it hard for her wheels to grip the ground, her bike swerving here and there. Luckily, before she could crash or skid into anything, she had reached the hospital. Forcefully getting off her bike, not bothering to tie it down, she rushed into the hospital. _

_She looked around, her tears making it hard for her to see. She saw two stretchers being carted off somewhere down the white hallway and she dashed after them. She came in frontal view of the stretchers. There lay her mother and father. Their bodies were at a standstill. Their skin pale. _

_A man in a green doctor's suit, a stethoscope around his neck turned and look at her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and said to her that she needed to leave. But her ears couldn't register. Her eyes spilled out tears as her mouth muttered small whispers;_

"_M-…om… . Da-….d…" _

_Kaoru didn't know when it happened, but she saw herself walking back the drenched street to her house. Her mind was fuzzy and her body felt numb. Her thoughts were flashing red lights. Something about an item on the stove…she couldn't fully register. _

_She finally felt a familiarity in her surroundings. When she looked up, she almost didn't feel surprised. A warmth that burst through the rain. Burning before her misty eyes was her house. Flames enveloped the house. Her body was too weak and her mind was too hazy to react to the loss. _

_But she felt her knees buckle before her as she fell to the ground. She should have turned off the stove…She should have begged them to stay… she could have saved their lives…_

_But she didn't…_

_­_ -End of Flashback-

"Kaoru?…Kaoru are you alright?"

Kaoru blinked a few times. She looked back up at Kenshin who stared at her, concern glossed over in his lavender eyes. She felt a warmth that was swathed around her hands that were clutched around her locket. She looked down to see Kenshin's hands gently, but firmly gripping her hands in his.

"Um…Kenshin, your hands…."

Kenshin jerked back a little and let go of her hands and blushed slightly, turning away. His face then grew bright as he turned back to her and smiled.

"Hey…you called me 'Kenshin'…"

Kaoru's eyes widened as she looked at him. The sunset illuminated his figure, a golden, fiery rapture engulfing him as he smiled at her. Her eyes widened. It was just like that time when he gave her the locket. Before that girl came into his life and ruined it…

"U-Um, we should be heading back. The sun it setting and you know. Early to bed, early to rise!"

Kenshin placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her hastened walking. She stopped and slowly turned around to look at him. His smiled was gentle as he turned her around fully.

"You mentioned something about a sleep over for the kids tonight earlier…I'd like to join you all if you don't mind."

Kaoru's speech was lost somewhere as she tried to agree with him and continue on her way but something prevented her from doing so. She simply nodded her head as he laughed a little bit more.

"Well, we better go inform Kenji then. I don't mind taking the day off from work tomorrow."

Kaoru sighed as her shoulders slumped. Wonderful. If he got fired from his jobs it would be her fault.

o0o0o0o0o

"Hey, Kenji! You gonna keep your face pressed against that glass all day or what?"

Kenji jolted away from the window and turned around to lay his turquoise eyes on Yahiko who had a smug smirk on his face. Kenji cocked his head to the side. What was he up to.

"Whadd'ya mean?"

Yahiko cackled as he walked up to Kenji and placed a hand over his ear and whispered wryly to him.

"I can tell just by the way you're watchin' 'em both that you don't mind the fact that Ugly and your dad are…_acquainted._ "

Kenji jerked away from him as he looked at Yahiko in confusion.

"'Ugly' ?"

Yahiko sighed as he rolled his chocolate eyes slightly and waved a hand in front of his face, indicating Kenji to dismiss his 'nickname' for Kaoru.

"That _Kaoru _and your dad are acquainted."

Kenji then nodded his head slowly, an 'O' shaped forming over his mouth as he then nodded frantically.

"Yeah. They seem to know each other from the looks of it."

Kenji smiled a little bit as he turned his head slightly to stare back over at the window. He could hear small shrieks from Kaoru and laughter from his dad down on the beach. Yahiko grabbed Kenji's face and turned it back so that he was facing him.

"You gotta focus! Listen. You want Kaoru and your dad to be together and happy and all that sappy stuff, right?"

Kenji nodded, deciding not to speak since his mouth was squished in-between Yahiko's hands.

"And you've always wanted a real person to call a 'mom' right?"

Kenji nodded once more.

"We-e-ell I think I just might have a way to help you with all that."

The same smug smirk appeared on Yahiko's face as Kenji's eyes widened. He yanked his head from Yahiko's grip and smiled brightly as he brought up his fists and his eyes shined.

"Ya mean it!"

Yahiko nodded, smirking. Kenji's smile then slowly faded into a look of suspicion. He slowly crossed his arms and butted out his lip as he looked Yahiko over.

"Wait…why would you be doing this for me…? What's in it for you, eh?"

Yahiko's expression changed. He looked at Kenji a moment before his expression changed into a smug childish denial sort of face. He jammed his hands into his pockets and brought his shoulders up, looking the other way.

"I guess I just want her to be happy…"

Kenji inspected him carefully before a small smile appeared on his face. How thoughtful…he gave himself a mental note to inform Kaoru of this during the wedding when he bared the ring. He snickered wryly at the thought.

"Hey. What's so funny 'bout that!"

Kenji simply laughed a little more and put his hands up in defense.

"No, I wasn't laughing about _that. _It was just a thought I had."

Yahiko snuffed and grunted, varying on whether not to buy or buy his story. Even if it _was _the truth, it didn't look to inviting. Yahiko simply shrugged his shoulders and decided that he was too lazy to argue. Yahiko then strung an arm around Kenji's shoulder and smiled coyly as he drew him close so he could whisper into his ear.

"Alright, Sparky, here's the plan—"

o0o0o0o0o0o

That's all for now, folks! Please review and **TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ON MY UP-COMING IDEA:**

Kamiya Kaoru has been made fun of all her life. Why? She believes in the extra terrestrial. As a photographer, she's been able to take shots of strange objects in the sky for proof, but no matter how hard she tries, she's always _wrong_ or _mistaken. _Little pictures won't convince anyone anymore. And she knows to get an advanced civilized creature from space is just barbaric. But with the help of a new found friend, her hopes go sky rocketing. Yet it's still impossible for the alien arrival as proof… Or is it…?

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! AND REVIEW!

Plz thnx.


	7. A little bit of This

A/N: Hey all! I'm really glad to get so many reviews! Wow! Anyway, as I mentioned in Goal by Heart, I'll be going on a cruise in April so I won't be able to update in two weeks or so.

Forgive me!

Anyway, this is chapter 7!

Chapter 7- A little bit of This

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Kaoru and Kenshin made their way up the sandy beach as the moon and stars set in. Kenshin held his socks and shoes in his hand while Kaoru remained empty handed. The silence was comfortable with the subtle rise and recede of the tide.

They made it back up to the house and smiled a little at each other. Kaoru stood and shifted back and forth from her heels to her toes while folding her lips in then out.

"Well, we better announce that you and Kenji are uh…staying."

Kenshin then nodded in agreement as he placed his hand on the cool doorknob and opened the front door, pausing to allow Kaoru to enter first. Kaoru smiled slightly and bowed her head while heading inside. Kenshin followed soon after she was safely in the house and shut the door.

"Kenji!"

Cupping her hands over her mouth and calling out through the house, there was no answer. Kaoru cocked an eyebrow and called again, this time just slightly louder. Hearing her call that time, or at least deciding not to ignore it, Kenji's head popped out from the living room entrance.

"Yeah?"

Kaoru smiled a little and strode over to him and quickly strung her arm around his shoulder and gave him a noogie.

"You're deaf, kiddo. Anywho, because you joined up late, I wouldn't expect you know this but about three weeks ago we planned on having a sleep over today; er, well, tonight." Kaoru smiled lopsidedly as she informed Kenji of the matter.

Kenji's face brightened up as he smiled up at her.

"Y'mean like…spending the night?.!"

Kaoru smiled slyly and gave him a dark grin.

"With popcorn and scary movies and ghost stories?" Kaoru replied to him while Kenji frantically nodded his head.

"And pillow fights and flashlight tag and Truth of Dare?" Kaoru continued to supply him with all sorts of hopes as Kenji's head continuously bobbed up and down, now whispering excitedly, 'yeah! Yeah!'. Kaoru then put on a thoughtful face as she rested her arm on Kenji's head and rubbed her chin.

She then nodded her head simply and waved her hand about.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Kenji then threw his fist up into the air as he danced in delight. Kenshin and Kaoru exchanged looks while they chuckled and then turned their heads to watch Kenji.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Kaoru tucked Kenji into the large covers that were spread over the living room floor. She smiled as she gently kissed his forehead, holding in a giggle while he scrunched up his nose and turned over in his sleep. She stood up carefully so not to disturb him and with great stealth, she walked out of the living room, avoiding the other sleeping kids.

She smiled as she made her way over to where Kenshin stood, leaning against the opening from the kitchen to the living room, a content smile on his face.

"They're all sleeping soundly." Kaoru said in a low voice. She glanced at the clock. It read 1:39am.

Kenshin nodded in agreement.

"They've had an action packed night. I would imagine they'll have quite the sleep. I haven't seen Kenji this conked out." Chuckling slightly at his own comment, he glanced over at Kenji who was sleeping absolutely still, soft breathing emitting from his resting body.

Kaoru looked at Kenshin a moment and locked eyes with his. She gave him a small smile and nudged her head over to the entrance of the door. Kenshin smiled and obliged, walking side by side with her over to the door.

They stepped outside once again and the warm, summer night air enveloped them both. Although the night was comfortably humid, there was a small taste of chill. Kaoru tugged the thin fabric of her jacket closer to her as she walked along side Kenshin out to the back of her house.

Making her way up onto her porch, Kaoru stopped at the railing and looked over the ocean. She smiled, leaning both of her arms to rest on the post, hearing the small clashes and singing of the tides. Kenshin came up next to her and did the same, resting his arms on the railing and staring out at the ocean.

The night was calm and comforting. The moon and its ivory rapture shown down on the two of them while the stars mimicked its occupation. Kenshin took a large intake of the crisp air and sighed a comfortable moan. Kaoru stole a glance at him and giggled when Kenshin opened his mouth wide in a prolonged, lethargic yawn, small tears forming in his eyes from it. She nudged him with her elbow and a smile appeared on his face.

"So…Mr. Himura...I've been needing to ask you something."

Kenshin almost wanted to cringe at the name. Even though he knew it was _proper _to say it that way, he still felt as though there was no need. They were best friends….right?

Kenshin turned to her from his original staring place on the sandy shoreline that was bathed in a navy moonlight.

"Shoot."

Kaoru bit her lip nervously as she shifted where she stood and tried to find a comfortable way to ask the question that had been on her mind for the longest time.

"…What….exactly happened…between…you and…Tomoe." Granted, Kaoru noticed that there was really no easy way to put exactly what she wanted to ask because the same feeling of misplacement and utter stupidity was still placed upon her chest with the look she got from Kenshin. He looked as though she had just told him something barbaric. Something like 'hey, I'm pregnant with your child. How 'bout that?'. Ugh. Stupid.

"Well…"

Kenshin started off, also shifting frequently where he stood. It seemed as though he, too, wanted to become more comfortable on the subject that she had regrettably brought up.

"I guess…things just didn't' work."

Kaoru looked at him for a moment. It didn't seem like he was telling her the whole story. If 'things just didn't work' was the whole kit and caboodle, Kenji most likely wouldn't be the face of the earth. And if that was the whole story, maybe Kenji would be _her _child instead of Kenshin's and Tomoe's. _If _Kenji was Tomoe's son.

"Really now."

Kaoru was obviously hinting to Kenshin that she wasn't going to accept that as his only answer. Kenshin sighed as he ran a hand through his disarray locks. He knew that she wouldn't settle for that but didn't _she _know that it was a tender topic to talk about?

"Kaoru, please. It's late and…I really don't want to talk about this."

Kaoru turned to him sharply.

"Well I do, Mr. Himura. I want to know what happened. I need to know what has happened over the twelve years that we've been apart. I don't know you any more, Kenshin! You're a stranger to me and…ugh…frankly, I don't like it!"

Kaoru scolded herself for using his name in the process. But looking at Kenshin, it didn't seem to lessen the effect. There was still a small look of hurt in his eyes. Turning her head back to the sea, Kaoru wanted to indicate that she wasn't going to back down because he was hurt. Her eyes still shown with a fiery blaze.

"Alright, Kaoru. You win."

Kenshin's voice was soft as he bowed his head slightly. Kaoru simply nodded once and kept silent, letting him start when he needed.

A few seconds of silence passed before Kenshin started speaking.

"The first year we finally got together were actually, great. Things were going nice and smooth and we weren't rushing into things too quickly. We were just…a couple. Nothing more, nothing less. But after about a year…things got….bad."

Kaoru nodded in agreement. She actually knew most of the reason as to why Tomoe would just dump him like that. And she had a feeling things got bad after that year when she had that…_inning _with Tomoe's _real_boyfriend. However real he could get.

"I mean, we were still rolling along smooth but then…then she started talking about certain things…things that I didn't even consider thinking about, let alone doing."

Kaoru hung her head just slightly. She knew what he meant, and she smiled just slightly. He _was _the most gentlemanly man she had ever met so she didn't expect him to be like the other immature stature of the other high school boys.

"I repelled against her…_suggestions _saying that I didn't want that. So, instead, she spread rumors. Saying 'we did it here! We did it there!' She practically said anything that seemed reasonable enough for gossip and made sure it got around."

Hearing that, Kaoru wasn't that surprised. She _had _heard half of those rumors but even so, refused to believe them. But then again, _one _of them had to be true. Where would Kenji come from otherwise?

"I kept on asking her to stop. But she insisted. Finally, I sat her down and talked to her. I asked her exactly why she was doing what she was. Her answer was simple, but deadly. 'I'm sorry, Kenny. I just wanted our relationship to look like it was going to last forever.' And then, to add to a little spice to the story, she sprout the fake tears and made little sniffs here and there and bit her lip. I didn't want to see her cry so I simply told her that it was alright."

Kaoru rolled her eyes slightly. If _she _were Kenshin, she would have told that snob to suck it up if she'd want to stay together. But then again, if she were Kenshin, she wouldn't have gone out with Tomoe in the first place.

"So, thus we continue. The rumors kept spreading, and the gossip kept broadening. But there was one particular one that seemed to stick out the most. And Tomoe planned to make that one reality."

Kenshin stopped and took a deep breath, the pain returning from those years before. His hands were gripping the wooden railing tightly. Kaoru hesitantly reached over and placed her hand atop his gently and he responded by flipping his hand over and squeezing hers, his gaze not moving from the porch floor.

"It was that night that Sano was talking about…the night he was shot. I was taking Tomoe out to a simple dinner. Well, more like _she _was. I had heard the gun shot and stopped, looking around. But Tomoe wouldn't stop. She continued to drag me to the place where she wanted to eat. It sounds like a corny excuse, but that's what happened."

Kaoru's mind tried to jack up a reason why Tomoe would be se persistent in getting to the restaurant. Could it be that she somehow arranged that night so those guys would attack both herself and Sano? It seemed to fit well, but…why?

"The place where we ended up eating was a bar. One of the rumors to where I supposedly got drunk and…anyway; I told Tomoe that I didn't really want to have dinner at a bar but she wouldn't settle for anything else. I gave in and we sat down. I remember ordering a simple Shirley Temple, and I also remember quoting 'no alcohol.' Tomoe had a martini. I thought 'hey, what could happened. _I'm _not going to be drunk so all is good.' I kept my cool that way."

Kaoru bit her lip. She had a feeling she knew what happened next but didn't stop him from telling his story. She knew it must feel good to get it off your chest after so long and so she kept silent, continuing to squeeze his hand.

"I don't know _what _Tomoe did…but she somehow spiked my drink. Seriously spiked it. I didn't even notice. I think I was too busy trying to ignore the many women who were grappling all over me at the time. The next thing I knew, Tomoe was dragging me into some motel for the night. She told me that I shouldn't try even walking, let alone driving which didn't really matter because I had left my car at my Uncle's where I lived at the time."

Kaoru nodded once more. She remembered his Uncle quite clearly now that she thought of it. She smiled slightly. He was always one to be self-conceded and full of himself the way Kenshin put it. Funny that with her around, he always acted chivalrous. Kaoru shook her head ot get out of her thoughts. She was still listening to Kenshin; she needed to focus.

"My mind was such a haze. I remember sitting on the motel bed and just holding my head in agony. It was awful. I felt someone in front of me and looked up to see Tomoe in lace braw and underwear. She asked me something, and I agreed. At the time, I had no idea what I had agreed to exactly, but I found out the hard way later on. All I truly remember clearly, because of the effects from the alcohol, were a couple things. I remember her undressing me for one. I tried to stop her, but I felt too disorientated to. I remember climbing into bed with her, and then I remember her taking my hands and undressing herself."

Kaoru could feel the quivering of his hand in hers and she hung her head, wetting her dried lips with her tongue. She had no idea how against it he was. She had thought that maybe he agreed to it on his own will…but this. She didn't expect this.

Oh, Kenshin… 

"I…I-I didn't know what to do. I was in a panic. Here I was under the consumption of alcohol and getting ready to have sex with my girlfriend in a motel, while I knew I didn't want to and I knew that I shouldn't. So I did the only thing I could think to do…I went along with it."

Kaoru gave an exasperated groan as she rolled her eyes along with her head.

"Stupid."

Her eyes widened as she clapped her hand over her mouth immediately after she had said that. Now wasn't the time to berate him on this tender topic. She looked at him nervously but was surprised to find that he was chuckling instead of glaring.

"Yeah, I know it was stupid. I bet if I really tried I could have stopped. But I didn't."

Kaoru sighed. He was always the one to let people's insults just slide. He really needed to change that. She continued to listen to him as he spoke.

"I woke up the next morning with a major hangover, only to find us both nude and in the same bed. I knew right then and there what had happened. I was in denial for the longest time. And that day when I met with you guys, I couldn't bare to talk about Tomoe or to you all. I wouldn't believe anything she told me, saying that it was just a dream. I didn't want to believe that I would do such a thing. But there was proof soon to be found."

His shoulders dropped as he sighed and turned around, leaning his back up against the railing and looking upward. Kaoru continued to study his face, a sad expression on her own.

"Three months. It started to show then. I had officially…gotten Tomoe pregnant."

That was it. That's all she needed. Kaoru didn't need to doubt herself in her mind anymore. Kenji_ was _Tomoe's son and nothing could change that. Kaoru sighed as she regrettably continued to listen.

"Things were awful. She said that it was going to bring us closer but I wasn't ready. I didn't want any kids. I was still a kid myself. I needed to live life and be free…but she didn't care. She had the baby after nine months; a healthy baby boy. But then, she didn't want him. Oh no. Now that she knew how a baby could change your way of life, she didn't want anything to do with him."

A bitter smile appeared on his face as he lifted his hand to trace the scar on his left cheek.

"She even tried to put an end to it all. Once by herself…"

He traced the vertical part of his scar.

"And once with some help…"

He traced the second part of his scar that lay horizontally across the vertical one. Kaoru sighed as a pain struck her heart.

"She…tried to kill you?"

Kenshin looked down once again with the same tart smile on his face.

"Both…she tried to kill both Kenji and myself, yes…."

Kaoru chocked on her next words. Tomoe tried to not only kill Kenshin, but Kenji as well? Her own _son? _Unbelievable…She was….she was insane!

"She got the _real _one she loved and used my getting her pregnant against me to anger him. He tried to kill us one night when he broke into the house using the house key that I gave Tomoe, but he wasn't able to. He only grazed my left cheek with the kitchen knife before my Uncle got him. And almost ironically, Tomoe did almost the same thing. But instead, she waited until I was asleep. Once again, she didn't succeed."

"Wouldn't…wouldn't she go for Kenji first because he was, well…defenseless?"

The question that was buzzing in Kaoru's head finally made it's way out of her lips once she found her voice. Kenshin smiled lopsidedly at her as he nodded.

"The first time, during the first break in, he _did _go for Kenji. But I made it in time and defending Kenji was how I received the first scar. The second time, I didn't want to risk loosing him incase I didn't make it or my Uncle didn't wake up, so I had Kenji sleep with me from then on."

Kaoru bit her lip. She knew Tomoe and Akira were rotten down to the core…even evil. But insane? Trying to kill her own son…after she _wanted _that from Kenshin. Kaoru shook her head, unable to comprehend what exactly Tomoe planned to gain out of the mixed up relationship.

Kenshin turned back to face Kaoru with sad eyes as he hung his head just slightly and murmured to her painfully;

"Well Kaoru…now you know…and I'm sorry."

Kaoru shook her head vigorously. He had nothing to apologize about! It wasn't his fault that all that happened…not mainly. Kaoru hung her head just slightly, a frown marring her face. She had no idea such a past like that could have actually happened to Kenshin.

"Mr. Himura…you've nothing to be sorry for…it wasn't your fault…"

Kenshin simply shook his head.

"I didn't mean that, Kaoru…"

Kaoru lifted her head slightly and looked at Kenshin with a look of confusion written on her face. Kenshin walked toward until Kaoru had to tilt her head upward just slightly to look at him in the eyes.

His smile was sad as he raised a hand and picked up the locket around her neck and held the heart shape gently in his palm.

"Remember when I gave this to you…?"

Kaoru looked down slightly at the small item and smiled and nodded a few times. Kenshin smiled at her and continued to hold the locket in his hand.

"When Tomoe and I got together…and all of us just…split apart, one of my biggest worries…was that I would never be able to talk to you again."

Kaoru's eyes widened just slightly. Why would he worry about that when he made it seem so obvious that he didn't care about Sanosuke, Soujiro, Aoshi, or herself?

"Yeah, I know. Sounds fishy. But it's true. Tomoe and I fought about it constantly. She's always proclaim that I cared more about you guys then her and I'd always become angry about her bringing you guys up in that fashion, and then we'd end up fighting about you. She'd always ask me why I'd given the locket to _you _and not _her. _That's when I just dropped it. I couldn't handle another word from her so I didn't give her any ammunition."

Kaoru hung her head just slightly and shook it. So she was one of the reasons why Tomoe and him fought. Now she felt even worse…

"Mr. Himura I-"

Before she could finish her sentence, she felt one slender digit placed on her lips to silence her. She looked up at Kenshin with eyes slight wide. He simple closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. He then stopped and smiled at her.

"Don't apologize, Kaoru. You're not at fault."

Kaoru just watched, mesmerized with his violet depths. She didn't even notice when he stepped closer to her. And she didn't even notice when his palm met the back of her head gently.

"M-Mr. Himura, -"

Kenshin shook his head once more.

"Call me Kenshin…"

And without any note of hesitation, he slowly dipped downward and hovered over her lips a moment before finally pushing forward and met her lips with his in a delectable, chastising lip-lock.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A/N: that's it for now! I'm so evil! Please review!


	8. A little bit of That

A/N: Hello everyone! As you can see from the previous update of 'Broken Legend' I've returned from me trip safe and sound!

I hope that those of you who are reading Waterfall and Light by Angel Wings won't be too upset that I update this first, will you? (And goal by heart for that matter)

Anyway, I'm just gonna get a move on because I'm just revved up to start typing.

Chapter 8 – A little bit of That

0o0o0o0o0o0o

_Call me Kenshin…_

Kaoru stared up at the ceiling of her room, the ceiling fan slowly spun, created a light breeze that played across her face. Her eyes blankly followed the constant motion of the fan's spinning. His words were echoing over and over in her mind. She slowly brought a hand up to trace her lips where his had been, the warm tingle still vibrating through them.

She slowly closed her sapphire eyes to try and recall exactly what had happened…

Flash Back 

"_Call me Kenshin."_

_Kaoru was just about to say a word of protest but her tongue became tied as she felt his hand bring her head up toward his face and before she even knew it, her lips were tied in a lip lock with his own. Kaoru's breath was stolen away as his lips sucked up anything she was going to say earlier. _

_Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut as she gave into his demanding kiss. Once she finally submitted to his control, she felt him move his head, pressing his lips more firmly against hers, twisting to test different positions of his mouth on hers. _

_Finally pulling away, Kaoru took a large intake of breath. She had been waiting for so long back in high school for that to happen. She couldn't speak. All she could do was stare into his lavender eyes, questions buzzing through her swimming head. _

_Neither of the spoke. They simply stared at each other wordlessly, as if waiting for the other to speak, but no one did…_

_End of Flash Back_

Kaoru opened her eyes once more and brought her hand up to clutch the golden locket that was still laced around her neck. It had been so long since she'd seen him, she practically lost hope in ever seeing him again.

But here he was…entering her life once more, this time with a son.

Guilt started to weave it's way into her heart. She could have stopped him from going through with all that. She could have told him what was going to happen to him if he stayed in that deadly relationship with Tomoe. She could have prevented it all from happening. But she didn't…

She wasjust too afraid that the consequences of Akira's punishment wouldn't go avoided. 

She cursed herself for being so selfish. But then again, the chances of him listening would have been a narrow margin. God had a plan for everyone in their lives and Kaoru guessed that this was his plan for Kenshin.

But was it really just something to sit on? _Could _she have made a difference if she really tried? It's not like everything in the outcome was awful. Kenji came out of it all and that was good, right?

But then again…having a child in the high school years was an awful choice.

Did Kenshin have to drop out of school? Did he have to try and find a job so he could pay for the baby? Kaoru knew first hand that diapers and baby formula were definitely _not _cheap.

So many questions on what happened to him after Kenji was born just wouldn't sit still in Kaoru's mind.

Why did Kenshin give _her _the precious locket and not his girlfriend?

How could Kenshin not see that Tomoe was so obviously going to turn on him?

Why didn't he go to the police when Akira and Tomoe teamed up to try and murder both Kenshin and his son?

Kaoru screamed out in frustration as she dug the palms of her hands into her eye sockets. She didn't see any possible way that she was going to get much sleep that night…

0o0o0o0o0o

Staring at the cherry wood of his kitchen table, Kenshin continued to peer into his deep thoughts. His chin was perched on his fists while his elbows were planted on the hard wood. He could feel the painful drag of his eyelids just weighing the sign of sleep onto him, but he knew sleep wasn't going to come easily at all. Why bother?

The creaking of his stairs brought him out of his drowsy pondering. He lifted his eyes to his son who slowly made his way down the steps in his large sleeping T-shirt and baggy pajama pants.

"Kenji. What are you doing up? You're suppose to be in bed…"

Kenji didn't answer as he slowly made his way over to where his father sat. As he reached the table, he pulled back one of the wooden chairs and plumped himself down onto the chair and scooted up to the table next to his dad.

"Kenji?"

Kenji stared at the wood a moment just as his dad did before taking a large breath of air, then turned to look into the lavender eyes of his dad with his turquoise.

"Dad…I've been thinking."

Kenshin's eyebrow cocked upward with a look of confusion. Thinking? His son could actually do that?

_Himura, you're awful! This is your son here, focus on him!_ "You have? What about…?" 

Kenji bit his lip as if unsure with the next question to ask, debating on whether or not he should actually ask the question in the first place. Finally, he closed his eyes and nodded in conferment.

"Dad…I want to know…what ever happened to…_mom."_

Kenshin's eyes widened. He definitely wasn't expecting _this _question. Looking into the eyes of his son, he could tell that he wasn't going to get out of the question with little answers like 'it didn't work.' He then swallowed a little and cleared his throat.

"Well…"

He seriously didn't know where to begin. He had been prepared about this question and knew that it was going to come one day or another. But now that he was actually in the process of answering that question, the answer just slipped away from his memory bank. He picked up his hand from his chin and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Wait, dad."

Kenshin stopped his thinking and turned to his son.

"First, lemme ask you this…how did mom and you meat?"

Kenshin sighed slightly. It wasn't as tongue twisting as the first question but it definitely brought back memories he'd like to forget. He closed his eyes before reopening them and bringing his hands down onto the wooden table.

"I guess you're going to find out one way or another…well…your mother and I met in high school, believe it or not. We weren't real acquainted or anything, but we knew that we were in the same school and community."

Kenji nodded with a straight face.

"She was quite popular and I was too, myself. She was on the cheerleading squad and I just…was popular out of no where, really. The girls clamed it was my looks and the guys clamed it was because I was just a great guy."

"Were you in any particular group of people?"

Kenshin stopped his story telling and looked at his son with a bit of confusion. Group?

"What do you mean?"

Kenji nodded his head from side to side, trying to think of an example.

"Y'know, like…cool people, punk people, goth people, geek people, nerd people…the works."

Kenshin chuckled a little at his sons response and shook his head.

"No, no. I wasn't really in a group…but I did have a group of friends I would hang out with all the time. But…after I met Tomoe and got together with her…they sort of…left my life…due to my fault."

Kenji then drawled a nod frowned just slightly at the saddened tone in his fathers voice when he mentioned the last part of his answer.

"Who were they?"

Kenshin's sad smile was then wiped from his face as he looked at his son.

"What?"

Kenji repeated his question.

"Who were they? Like…what were their names…?"

Kenshin bit his lip slightly and looked off to the side, unable to answer Kenji's question immediately. Could he admit that Kaoru was one of the people he used to hang out with, then abandoned? Kenshin shook his head. He couldn't leave his son in the dark.

"Sanosuke Sagara was my childhood best friend. We met each other while we were in the orphanage and became good friends. And it turned out we went to the same schools all through out Elementary, Junior High and High school.

"Aoshi Shinomori was another friend I hung out with. We met in high school when I accidentally rammed into him in the lunch line and drenched him in the cafeteria spaghetti. Heh, he and I spent a day in detention for that one and we became friends.

"Soujiro Seta was amongst the few who I got close to as well. He was in a grade lower than I was and so naturally, I was his 'superior'. I'd see him around the halls here and there and say hi maybe once or twice but it was another one of my friends who actually got us really in touch…"

Kenshin stopped right there in his explanation. He could barely find the gut to tell Kenji about Kaoru. The flashes of the misfortunes of him skipping Soujiro's mother's funeral, Aoshi's, Sano's and Soujiro's total memory wipe of their every three month's party night, Sano's bullet wound, and Kaoru's birthday all gone by without him even noticing, really stung.

"Well? Who was it that introduced you to this Soujiro guy?"

Kenshin lifted his head to Kenji and paused a moment before standing up from the table. Kenji lifted his gaze to his fathers retreating body.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Kenshin walked into his working area and approached his wooden desk and stared at the hard cover year book of his high school years. Taking another racketing breath, he grabbed his Senior year book and returned back into the kitchen and sat at the table again, placing the untouched year book on the table.

"This is my Senior year book from high school. I haven't looked at it yet…not even once. The only one I've really looked at was my Sophomore year."

Kenshin sat down in his seat again and opened up the book, forcing the strong seal of the brand new binding to stretch.

"You can tell by the toughness of the book binding that I haven't looked at it. Sad, isn't it."

Kenji didn't reply, his eyes too focused on the book. Kenshin hoped that his memory served him right from those 10 years ago and flipped to the page where his friends had their pictures taken.

"…ah. Here they are."

Kenshin landed on the 34th page of the book, the white crisp paper clashing with the colorful images of the class. Black and white photos were further into the book where the class picture was taken. But in the front of the book were individual images that you yourself could pick out.

"Ironically, the last names of my friends all started with S so they're pretty much all grouped together. See? There's Sanosuke."

Kenshin shifted the book so that it was facing Kenji right side up, and pointed ot an image of a boy with spiky brown hair and cinnamon eyes, a red head band laced around his forehead as a few stray bangs floated in his face. Kenshin then lifted his finger and skimmed over to the right side of the page and landed on another picture of a boy.

"And this here is Soujiro."

The boy had a very friendly smile on his youthful features and had indigo eyes while his hair was cut in a simple bowl cut, the color of a solid brown, but his attractiveness still in effect.

"Heh, he never did stop smiling. And he sure had a lot of girls on his tail."

Flipping the page, his eyes skimmed the page a moment before finding who he was looking for. Pointing to yet another picture of a boy.

"This is Aoshi. It was almost scary how quiet he always was when he was around different people."

He face was lean and his mouth was in a thin line, his eyes a sharp lightning blue/green. His hair, a jet black color with long bangs that parted in the middle of his forehead.

"Dad…what about that other person?"

Kenshin nodded. Of course. He hesitated a moment before slowly flipping the pages back to the 'Ks'. Finally landing on the correct page, Kenshin hesitated once more. Fisting up his palms, he finally hovered over the page until he landed on the image of a young girl this time.

"This…is her. She's the one…who introduced me to Soujiro."

Kenjis eyes narrowed a moment, looking at the picture hard. Finally, after a while of staring, his eyes widened and he quickly looked back up to his father.

"…Kaoru?.!"

Kenshin nodded slowly.

"That's her, alright. She changed so much in the time I was with Tomoe…"

Kenshin also stared at the picture. Glasses no longer rimmed her face, letting her sapphire eyes captivate the person looking at her picture. A white, toothy grin laced her smile, braces no longer marring her mouth either. Her long, glossy, navy blue/black hair was held in a semi pony tail with a small ribbon laced around the strands to keep it in place while large bands like Aoshi's framed her face, parting in the middle of her forehead. And still laced around her slender neck was the same golden locket.

"Wow…you and her were _friends _in high school?"

Kenshin shook his head just slightly.

"No…we were _best friends. _No one, besides Sano, were as close as Kaoru and I. We were two birds of a feather…deux paire, two of a kind. We met in her Freshmen year, my Sophomore year. She was getting teased by the older group of kids one morning on her way to class and I happened to be walking by. I stopped them and sent them on their way and helped her to her feet. From then on we just became inseparable. I don't know what it was about her that just drew me in. If it was her personality…or if it was her voice or her smile, I don't know. But we just became as close as could be…"

Kenshin sighed as he glanced at his son, the look of sadness clearly displayed on Kenji's face.

"What happened…?"

Kenshin took a deep breath, preparing to answer his sons question to the fullest.

"I had entered my Junior year of high school and I was slowly developing a crush on Tomoe from afar. Somehow, she figured that out and we soon became an item. And during that time…something happened. I grew distant from my friends…every one of them. So distant to the point where they were afraid to approach me. Then…one day they all approached me….

So many things had happened. Soujiro's mother died from a heart attack during the night. She had had heart problems all her life and she was expected to die soon. Soujiro, Aoshi, Sano, and myself always had one night ever three months where we'd just party and have fun and I totally forgot about that. Kaoru's birthday had come and gone and I missed it, as if I didn't even know she existed. And on the night of the funeral for Soujiro's mom, Sano and Kaoru were attacked and Sano was shot in the shoulder.

It was crazy. It was as if everything was happening when I wasn't there. Like a turn of events that only happened just to spite me…"

Kenji stared at his dad with shock riddled in his eyes. Did this all really happen to his dad? He blinked multiple times then stared back down at the picture of Kaoru in the year book.

"But…I thought that…; It's practically fate that best friends of the opposite gender fall in love and get married…right? It happens so frequently that it's known as natural tradition! I heard that somewhere and I never forgot it…how come it never happened with you…?"

Kenshin smiled sadly at his son and placed a hand on top of his head.

"Kenji…just because your biological mother and I were…in love once, doesn't mean that it's going to be my one and only love, you know…"

"So basically…you're telling me that back _then _you loved that girl…right?"

"Kenji, she's your mo-"

"I'm not calling that woman my mom. A mom is someone who takes care of their child and is always there. Someone to love you and care for you. She was never there…so she doesn't even deserve that title…"

Kenshin stared at his son.

"Kenji…"

Kenji closed his eyes a moment before slowly coming to a realization.

"_Kenji…just because your biological mother and I were…in love once, doesn't mean that it's going to be my one and only love, you know…"_

_Dad said that Kaoru and him where best friends…and that nothing could tear them apart. But yet this woman did…so that must only mean that she was never suppose to be there in the first place! _

Kenji stared at his dad a moment before a boyish grin appeared on his face.

"Ah hah! I get it!"

Kenshin's smile slowly faded off of his face as he cocked his head to the side, questioning his son's actions.

"A mom is someone who loves and cares for you, Dad. The only figure that I've ever seen like that is _Kaoru."_

Kenshin jerked back just slightly, still trying to follow exactly what his son was getting to with his small theory of his and Kaoru's relationship.

"And Kaoru and you were best friends before, so basically, that means you're pretty much best friends _now!"_

Kenshin cocked an eyebrow, calculating his son's reasoning then slowly started to nod his head shrugging his shoulders in the process.

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"Well? Don't you see what this means?.!"

Kenshin's nodding continued before it slowed down a little and then came to a halt as he started to shake his head in disagreement, a confused look on his face.

"I'm not following."

Kenji rolled his eyes before standing up, a large grin on his face.

"Don't you see! Kaoru and you were always meant to be together! That woman simply got in the way of all that, and now, time is repairing what ever was broken between Kaoru and yourself! You said yourself that your first love won't always be your last, totally avoiding my question about what happened between Kaoru and you! That can only mean that you're expecting to get together with her! See? Fate brought you together! With me being born and Kaoru looking after me, all this has come into play of the _true _meaning as to why Kaoru and yourself weren't together before! You're suppose to be together _now!_"

Kenshin's eyes widened extensively as his son blared out a complicated explanation to his theory. Was he right? Was his son actually stating the truth? Was he subconsciously starting to expect the get together of Kaoru and himself? Was fate waiting until he was stable enough to start a family and had Kaoru appear into his life in _that _way? After all those years?.!

"Kenji, that is absolutely absurd!.!"

Although Kenshin saw the workings behind it all, it still didn't seem like it fit. Or maybe he was didn't _want _it to. Kenji spat his tongue out with a smug grin on his face.

"Denial is the first siiiggnn!"

Kenshin twisted his mouth into a frown of annoyance as he quickly came back with a retort.

"Kenji, your logic may be explainable, but that doesn't mean it's true!"

Kenji ignored his dad and started to dance, snickering and pointing at his dad menacingly, laughing even more profoundly as he caught his father red faced and blushing like mad.

"You're in looooove. You're in looooove."

Kenshin forgot all means of maturity and quickly covered his ears childishly and continued to argue against his sons declarations, blabbering random gibberish to drown out Kenji's chanting.

"LALALAL! I can't HEEARR yoouu!"

Kenji continued to pester his father over and over again with small kissing gestures and hugging actions along with more silly dancing and snickers.

"Daddy loooves Kaoru! Daddy loooves Kaoru!"

"Dot not!"

"DO TOO!"

"DO NOT!"

"Oh really! Then how come you were kissing her on the porch last night?.!" 

"I-"

Kenshin stopped in his mid sentence hearing his son shout the gospel truth at him. He had been caught kissing his son's baby sitter by none other than his son himself.

"I uhh…"

Kenji's smile widened even more extensively if possible.

"OH! SA-LAM! YOU JUST GOT SERVED!"

Kenshin's embarrassment quickly diminished as he quickly whipped his head to face his overjoyed son in a duel of tongue lashing.

"And what about you? Weren't _you _suppose to be _asleep_?.!"

Kenji simple shrugged his shoulders.

"What does it matter? I still caught you! And besides, Yahiko and I knew that you two wouldn't do anything when we were awake so we faked it! It's not that hard you know."

Kenshin's jaw dropped.

"You mean _Yahiko _knows about it too?"

"Duh! I mean he _lives _there! But like I said! What does it matter? I caught you and that's that! You are SO in love with her!"

Once again, their childish debate started up again.

"I am not!"

"ARE TOO! And if you don't admit it then _I'm _going to tell her tomorrow!"

Kenshin's mouth went dry and his eyes widened again as he quickly shook his head vigorously, clasping his hands together, begging his son not to do what he threatened to.

Kenji's eyebrows rose and another smirk plastered onto his face as he placed his hands on his hips and looked at his dad with a snort.

"So you _are _in love with her…"

Kenshin finally had to come to a conclusion. He was either to admit to his son the truth of it all, or be humiliated by his son when he told his sitter that his dad had feelings for her.

"Yes. I admit it! I'm head over heels! I'm a love sick puppy, struck down by cupid himself! I'm in love with her! I love her, I love her, I love her, I love her! There! Are you satisfied? Now _please _don't even breath a word of that to her!"

Kenji stared at his dad. He had never seen him spill the beans like that! He did it! He finally got his dad to admit that he loved Kaoru! Oh the sweet feeling of success!

"Ha…I knew it."

"Yes, yes you did! Now please!"

Kenji simply waved his hand in front of his dad.

"Ahhh, don't worry about it. I finally got what I wanted! No need to threaten any more! I'll just be on my way to bed now. G'night, dad!"

And with that, Kenji hopped down from his chair and walked to an invisible beat back to the stairs, whistling a little tune as he journeyed up to his bedroom and shut the door.

Kenshin still sat by the table with a look of overload on his tired face. Then with an exasperated sigh, he dropped his head onto the table with a bang.

"What in the world have I gotten myself into…"

0o0o0o0o0o

A/N: Well, that's all for now! Oh, that argue between Kenji and Kenshin was so much fun! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Review!


	9. Mischievous Plotting

A/N: Hi everyone. No, I'm not magically better. Actually, I'm worse. But I've been nagged about updating so here it is.

I apologize if this chapter seems a little funky. My mind hasn't been too clear since I got laryngitis and this sinus infection. I usually NEVER get sick. So this is pretty awkward.

I'll reply to your reviews mkay:

**PEACH :** I'm glad that you like my story so much. (Don't mind the lack of exclamation points. I'm not too bouncy today XD) I figured that people would find this story attracting because Kenji was in it and he's older and is a little troublemaker who pretty much controls what happens from this chapter and on. Keep reviewing! Oh and P.S- I know. Kenji is cute. He's so adorable. (hugs him)

**Hanna Parker** : I'm glad you like it. I was hoping people would find it funny. You see, I think I'd try things in a different point of view. Because Kenji wouldn't be talking all sophisticated like because he's only a kid. So everything said in the last chapter defines that Kenji's not old enough and lacks the capacity to control his excitement XD.

**Lynn-Minmay**: Finally, someone who appreciates my different fanfic! Lol. My brain was burning trying to find a way to make a really different fic. Glad you like it! Please keep reviewing.

**Larie-chan: **ADD fic? You mean like…a fic that goes off track and doesn't focus? Lol XD I'm extremely pleased that you're enjoying this story so much! I have ADHD for that matter so that might explain the ADD X3. And thank you for putting me into your favorites! I appreciate it a lot! (picks up pearls and stuffs them in pocket) ;D

**Kanzen Ne Tsuki**: I take it that you liked it -. I'm glad! It was a lot of run writing that chapter because it sort of (hopefully) reminded people that Kenji was still a pre-teen and not all adult like XD. I just hope it didn't seem to sloppy :P. Anyway, thank you for reviewing, Tsuki-san!

**kukkick007** : Wow. You convinced me you liked my chapter ;. I'm glad! Sorry if I seem like I'm just cutting you short but I can't think of much else to say except thank you and keep reviewing!

**lady scorpio**: I'm glad you found it really funny! I was aiming for that. Thank you and keep reviewing!

**Princess-oro: **Don't worry, Kenshin and Kaoru fluff is on it's way. And I'd NEVER forget Soujiro! (I don't think I could) And Misao's going to make her entrance as well. I'll try and find a spot where Sano's going to fit into this all as well. Not so sure about Aoshi. I'll try but I don't know where he'll fit in. Anyway, thanks for reviewing! (Oh, and P.S.- Megumi'll be showing as well so no worries.)

**Shauntell: **No worries. I've already got the ending to this story all planned out. ;D Thanks for the review!

**Royal bluekitsune: **It may be a little shocking to you, but I don't exactly favor cookies :P. I appreciate the offer, though XD. I'll find some time to update my work so no worries.

**Tsumesgirl05: **Thank you. I try ;. Keep reviewing!

**Deal-with-it: **More childish Kenshin's going to appear in later chapters and I think that's what truly is going to draw in the closeness of Kenji, Kenshin, and Kaoru. I'm glad you like all of it! Keep reviewing!

**AnimeLCgrl: **Thanks! I'm glad you like it! That's what I'm aiming for! Thank you for the review and keep reviewing!

**Al: **Thanks XD (laughs)

**Brittanie Love: **I'm glad you thought it was funny . Thanks for the review!

**Suicidal Baka911: **I actually wanted him to act that way! I'm glad you picked that up! Good for you! (gives thumbs up). I wanted him to seem like a high school kid because since Kenji came into his life a little too soon, he had to act like an adult, rather than a kid so that sort of brought back the childish self that was forced to be locked away! Good job! Thanks for the review!

**Prohibited: **Oh, I just wish I could smuggle the little squirt! He's adorable, really. Thank you, I do try to do good ;; But anyway, thank you for the review, and don't worry! KK Fluff is definitely on its way.

**Becky: **I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I aim to please . Keep reviewing!

**Getfuzzyfan04: **Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! Please keep reviewing!

**Kag-Kitsune: **Thanks! I'm glad you thought it was good! Keep reviewing!

**Kirin'sdaughter: **Lol. You have laptops in class as well? That rocks. I always read when I get the time during classes and sometimes gain the attention of my peers. I roll anyway, I don't particularly care. But don't take that as an insult, I'm just that kinda person XD. Thanks for the review!

**DragonBlade666: **Well, I'm thinking on having Kenji approach Kaoru in a different way. But he'll get it out somehow . I can't tell you everything so you'll just have to wait and see on your other questions! Thank for you reviewing!

**KikyoxSuikotsu: **I'm glad you enjoyed it! Here's your update! Thanks for reviewing!

**JBella: **Yes. Kenji is a mad genius in disguise of a punky twelve year old. Ha ha! (laughs evilly) I'm glad you like it so far! I made Kenji a little bit like Kenshin's nature in the cute kinda way and stuffs, but I just sorta whipped up this punk and stubborn attitude on my own :D Aren't you proud of me? Just joking. Thanks for reviewing!

**Nilnil: **Glad you liked it! I try to brighten peoples day up a little. Thanks for reviewing!

**Angelstarhikaru: **Mature! Aw, dang! Lol. Well, I'm hoping he didn't seem mature through ALL of the chapter. He's only twelve, lol. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Ruronichik13: **I know. Kenji just owns the story. (laughs) I wanted him to see cool in this story because he truly is a really cool character in the real series! Thank you for reviewing!

**Crooning Waterfall: **I'm glad that you enjoyed it! Please keep reviewing!

**Neko-Yuff16: **Kenji just has skill. Lol, I'm happy you liked it! (Wow, that sentence really is getting old!) Anyway, please keep reviewing!

**Aldailyn: **I take it you enjoyed it! I wanted to put a little twelve year old slang in there or whatever twelve year olds might say (I'm basically 14 so I wouldn't know. Naw, just kidding… about the not knowing part I mean.) Thank you for reviewing!

**Crystal Snowflakes: **Glad you think it's cute! Thanks for the review!

**Shout2danorth91: **Shh! I have disabilities with spelling sometimes. (stabs homophones.) Anyway, thank you for the review!

**Horse-crazy-gurl: **I'm glad that you liked it! Kenji can be pretty evil at times, but his cuteness definitely makes up for it! Thanks for the review!

**Monkeystarz: **I'm glad you think it's cute! (Personally, so do I X3) Thanks for the review!

HALLELUJA! FINALLY! That was the most reviews I had to respond to! Thank you all!

**You know what's sad: **

…I just looked at my review for the first chapter of this story and I had only saw just now an anonymous review with no name saying 'you suck'. That amused me! ( I laughed. Wow, I'm so mean.) I never noticed until now! I somehow found that funny.

ANYWAY! Continuing with the story!

0o0o0o0o0o

Chapter 8 – Mischievous Plotting

0o0o0o0o0o

'_Uuuuuugllyyyyy….'_

'_Ugggggllyyyyy…'_

"…"

'_Uggllyy…!'_

"..mmm…"

"Ugly! Hey! Ugly!"

" W…what…?"

Kaoru's eyes slowly fluttered open as the images of her surroundings slowly came in as a blurry fog but eventually sharpening into less hazy blotches of abstract pictures, and more like her bedroom. Once her sleep finally gave her sight back to her, she finally spotted Yahiko standing by her bed with an annoyed look on his young face. It was only then did she notice the pillow that was held high over his head.

" W-wha--?"

Yahiko suddenly brought the pillow down and started beating her with it mercilessly.

"Ugly, it's time to get up! Gods, you've slept in late! I mean, I know you _need _your beauty sleep and all but it's almost 11:30!"

Kaoru shrieked as she put her hands up in defense of the attacking pillow, her groggy mind slowly coming into function with the repetitive hits. Finally tired of the beatings, Kaoru growled and answered back at his disrespectful comments.

"I'm up, I'm up! Sheesh! And watch your mouth, brat! I was up late last night! And if it wasn't for this _ugly _girl before you, you'd still be out on the streets! Show some respect and allow a girl some much needed Rn'R!"

Yahiko snuffed and put his hands on his hips and held his nose high in the air.

"'On the streets' my butt. You know very well that I would have gotten away! And don't talk to _me _about Rn'R! I was _kind _enough to let you sleep in! 'Brat' you say!"

Kaoru growled at the ignorant kid before her. No respect what so ever.

"That's it. You're getting it."

The tone in Kaoru's voice sparked the young boys interest as he looked back at her with curiosity at the sudden dark edge to her voice and was shocked to find her slowly stalking forward, approaching him while crawling on her mattress. If it wasn't for the evil twisted grin on her face, Yahiko could have easily said that she was almost as frightening as her cooking. _Almost _as frightening. Key word.

In a last line of defense, Yahiko chucked the pillow that was still clutched in his hand at Kaoru but failed miserably to aim at his target. Now left with nothing, she suddenly pounced on him and brought him to the ground.

"Ugh! Kaoru—Hahhahah! Kao- Kaoru s-sto- Hahah!"

Kaoru smirked as she mercilessly attacked his sides with her fingers, tickling him intensely as he writhed and laughed uncontrollably from the effects of her 'torture.' Yahiko, from the effects of his over dosed laughter, tried to beat Kaoru away with his hand but was only limited to a sad amount of strength as mirthful tears sprouted from his eyes.

"OK- HAHAHA!- I GIVE, I GIVE!"

Kaoru didn't stop her tickling as she just grinned with victory and looked down her nose at the rolling boy below her.

"Uncllleee?"

Kaoru suggested the little code word for 'truce' with a sadistic grin.

"UNCLE-HAHAH! UNCLE, UNCLE!"

Kaoru finally stopped her tickling and laughed a little as the boy before her tried desperately to regain his lost breath, a large grin on his tear stained face. She ruffled his black hair and stood up from her kneeling spot on the ground and was just about to make her way over to her bathroom when she felt small hands around her ankle.

"Psych!"

Yahiko had quickly recovered from the aggressive tickle attack and quickly yanked her ankle from underneath her as she quickly fell to the ground with a thump.

"Yahikooooo!"

She hissed out his name dangerously as he snickered deviously but was then interrupted with the sound of the doorbell. They stared at her door a moment before exchanging looks themselves. Then Yahiko got a grin on his face and quickly sprang to his feet.

"Last one to the door is an ugly raccoon!"

And with that, he dashed out of the door with Kaoru hot on his heels. Kaoru quickly grabbed a hold on his large T-shirt collar and yanked backward causing Yahiko to stumble backward as Kaoru eagerly took the lead.

"Coming!" Kaoru called.

Yahiko growled as Kaoru neared the door. Bursting into a sprint, Yahiko lunged for her and tackled her to the ground just as her hand was about to open the door after she had turned the knob.

Kaoru had quickly been cut short of her victory as she was roughly tackled to the ground.

"UGH!"

0o0o0o0o0o

Kenshin and Kenji stood at the door of Kaoru's house after just ringing the door bell. Following a short period of silence, a sudden jumble of thumping sounds could be heard. Then Kaorus voice rang out from inside, making Kenshin smile unknowingly while his son simply smirked as his dads expression.

"Coming!"

Both their faces were then aligned with smiles as they saw the door knob slowly turn, ready to be greeted by the friendly face of Kaoru. But suddenly, another loud thump was heard along with a bash and a loud grunt which sounded much like Kaorus voice.

Kenshin and his son both exchanged odd glances.

"What in the world…." Kenshin pondered aloud.

"Is she having some sort of a wrestling match in there or something…?" Kenji asked in interested and tried to peek through the door although his attempts were obviously fruitless.

Then hearing small grunts and angry rambles, much to the similarity of a cat fight, Kenshin nervously knocked on the door again.

"….Kaoru…?"

0o0o0o0o0o

"Arrrghhh, get _off _me, will you!"

Yahiko had his arms securely wrapped around Kaorus waist as he tried desperately to keep her pinned to the ground. Kaoru wrestled with him and tried to pry him off her but was left futile and decided to reach for the door instead, previously hearing the impatient knock.

She craned her arm as much as she could and nicked the knob of the door. She growled as she dragged herself closer to the entrance while Yahiko protested fervently. She finally got a hold on the door knob and turned it, then with all her might, tugged it open before letting her right arm collapse back onto the ground after its strain.

Heaving slightly, she snickered at Yahiko but when she turned to face him, saw that he had previously forgot about his wrestle with her and was staring intently at the figures in the doorway, dead still. Kaoru blinked as she slowly turned her head from looking back at Yahiko and almost nervously brought her gaze upward toward the doors entrance. That's when she finally spotted her loyal little companion, 'the squirt' … along with his faithful dad… 'the handsome-prior best-friend-in-high-school-that-was-now-standing-on-her-doorstep-looking-at-her-with-a-desirablly-sexy-look'. Curses. Damned be the fates.

"Mr. Himura!"

Quickly springing to her feet, she somehow managed to finally get Yahiko to let go of her and dusted herself off. She gave them a lop sided grin and laughed nervously as she tried to ignore the blaring reminder in her head that she was still in her night ware.

"Eh- heh.. um…what are you two doing here?"

She tried to act more casual but found her hand rubbing the back of her neck uneasily. Luckily, Kenshin complied with her and simply chuckled while Kenji snickered at the sight of his disheveled baby sitter.

"We thought that we'd just stop by, is all. It's summer and all, you know."

Kaoru nodded in agreement while Yahiko picked himself off the ground, rubbing his head from the bump he received when being shoved off of Kaoru. Kenji cleared his throat with and obvious intention to hint something. Kenshin whipped his head over to his son and glared. Kenji stopped his throat clearing and sighed as the two continued to remain silent, then walked behind his dad and pushed him forward, inside.

"Go _on, _dad!"

Kenshin jerked forward at the sudden push and nearly stumbled over as he clumsily entered her house hold. He finally regained his composure as he cleared his throat as well and took a deep breath.

"Actually, there's a more…well reasonable reason as to why we came."

Kaoru laughed as he obviously regretted his poor choice of wording and leaned against the door's entrance with a small smile.

"Yeah?"

Kenshin nodded and looked off to the side.

"….Well…?"

Kaoru coaxed with a laugh as she tried to provoke him to tell her the reasons for his arrival in her humble abode. She laughed as Kenshin snapped his head back to face her with a small blush.

"Right…well, I was actually wondering if you'd…well…if you'd like to spend the afternoon with me…"

Kaoru blinked a few times but then let the smile return to her face. She hesitantly looked at Kenji who had a large grin on his face as he leaned back and forth on the heals and toes of his feet.

"…You mean…'us'? As in….no squirt…?"

Kenshin lightly nodded his head as his face colored slightly, trying to change the direction of his gaze but was thrown off guard as he heard Kaoru giggled lightly. He looked back at her with one raised eyebrow. Then his expression dropped.

_She must think I'm joking…most likely telling herself that I'm talking crazy…_

"I'd like that."

Kenshin's thoughts were cut off as he blinked a few times, then smiled greatly.

"Really…? That's great!"

Kaoru laughed and shook her head at the childish side of the man before her. Kenshin smiled brightly as a small brush lighted up his cheeks. Kaoru pointed to her bedroom, silently informing Kenshin that she was going to go change before she headed into the room.

Once the door was safely shut, Kaoru squealed like a little girl would when getting a large lollipop and shuffled her feet excitedly, much like the training the boys get at football practice, she noted. Then she sprang into a leaping fest around the room.

"He asked me out! He asked me out! Oh my god, I'm acting like a teenager, but he _asked me out! _"

Finally Kaoru let a large sigh escape her mouth as she fell back onto her mattress blissfully.

"Oh what a life…"

Smiling like a carefree child, she quickly jerked herself off of her bed and zipped over to her dresser, swaying her hips innocently at an imaginary tune. Rummaging through her clothes she picked the ones that seemed fitted for a simple outing for lunch. A nice pair of small, low ride high thigh jean shorts and a simple T-shirt. Perfect!

Emerging from her bedroom she smiled as she approached Kenshin who stood, leaned up against the wall.

Kaoru had left Yahiko in charge for the time that her and Kenshin would be gone and made him promise that he wouldn't burn down the house. With a scouts honor, Yahiko was left trusted with Kenji and her home.

With innocent smiles, Kenji and Yahiko watched Kenshin and Kaoru drive off to their lunch outing, Kenji and Yahiko quickly slammed the door closed and dashed over to the living room and jumped onto the couches. Adjusting themselves to face each other, they started off their conversation with smug grins.

"So…did you ask 'im?"

Kenji snickered and nodded.

"Sure did! And I got a full out answer!"

Yahiko rubbed his hands together in satisfaction, licking his lips.

"So? What did he say?"

Kenji laughed sadistically and grinned.

"He totally digs Kaoru."

The grin the was emanating from Kenji's face suddenly became contagious as Yahiko threw his first in the air, then drew it back into his side, whispering a 'yes'.

"Excellent! The plan's going along nicely. Now to get Kaoru to fess up."

Kenji nodded and smiled before the smile disappeared from his face.

"But what will we do once we get Kaoru to tell the truth? What's up next?"

Yahiko smirked and laughed, causing the confusion to rise in Kenji's expression.

"You don't need to worry about that. I've got everything planned out."

Kenji snickered as Yahiko gave him a wink. Their little plan was working. He already got his dad to confess, with much detail, that he loved Kaoru like (in his words) a love sick puppy. Now if only Kaoru could do the same.

Oh the excitement was just too much at times! He couldn't wait to be the ring bearer. Oh he could see it now. But he couldn't help letting his mind wander a bit.

What exactly did lunch outings work?

Especially with a baby sitter and a lousy ladies man?

Kenjis eyes went wide as groaned slightly and bit his lip, gulping

.…Suddenly, things didn't seem too promising.

0o0o0o0o0o

A/N: WHOO! GO ME! Wow. I finally finished this chapter. I loved the way it turned out. I always wanted to enunciate on Yahiko's and Kaoru's relationship. Because I know that even though it may seem like they hate each other, we all know in our hearts it's not true. They love each other!

Really and truly.

They just deny it!

With…every fiber of their being…

Yeah.

Anyway! Thank you for waiting so long! I'll try to have the other chapters for my other stories updated soon!

Review!


	10. Date or Play date?

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry for not updating! For those who read 'Goal by Heart' you'd understand why.

I had the one of the **worst birthdays ever. **

My birthday was this past Saturday, June 4th. My older sister's high school graduation turned out to be on that day.

And so, she was the star of the spotlight. She got showered in gifts. One of them was a laptop. (I mean, the gifts weren't the annoying part and I don't mind. It _is _her graduation) but then she started complaining. Ugh.

Then we set off to go to two BBQ's. One from her best friend, and one from her boyfriend. Didn't know anyone so I just sorta sat and watched everything. Then, after those two things, we headed for the graduation which was three hours of pointless speeches. I doodled and made up a new character but that really doesn't matter.

Then, as my sister got to go to her senior part bash that rocks all the parties of the world right off their asses, I spent 15 to 20 minutes in the bathroom, vomiting.

I love my sister, I really do. She may hate my guts (which in a lot of aspects, she does. I mean, c'mon. We're sheer opposites. She's the blonde with blue eyes. I'm brunette with brown eyes.) She _did _wish me a happy birthday once or twice. And her boyfriend, which I love to death like a brother, wished me a happy birthday too, so that was nice.

I got flowers and a manga book for my birthday. Those were nice. I just want to get together with my two best-friends, really.

Aside from puking and being totally ignored on my birthday, it was alright. I'm 14 now and I feel officially older:D

And besides. It seriously could have been worse. It could have rained like during the 7 treturous weeks prior but it was beautiful.

Well, on with the chapter!

0o0o0o0o0o

Chapter 10 – Date, or Play Date?

0o0o0o0o0o

Kaoru continued to let the smile on her face shine as bright as ever. She looked down the menu she held in her palm and skimmed down the various choices.

Hmmm… 

She didn't move her head from it's position but let her eyes shift upward to take a glance at the redhead seated across from her.

She held in a small giggle as she took in his childish expression. His eye brows were knitted downward in concentration while his tongue poked out of the left side of his lips, flipped upward. Much like the way a child would when in the middle of a vigorous video game.

The place they were at wasn't anything fancy. And Kaoru liked it just like that. They were at a little lunch hut near the beach. It was like a little boardwalk with tables that you could order lunch at, obviously. Basically, they were outside besides the boards underneath them and the small roof above, held up by isolated columns of wood.

"You decide on what you're getting?"

Kaoru was brought out of her thoughts as Kenshin's voice invaded them. She looked up from the menu and into his violet eyes.

"No, not yet."

Kenshin smirked as he put his menu down.

"Does it really take you _that _long to decide?"

Kaoru dropped her menu and gave him a look of mocked appall, her jaw dropped but curved in a smile. She cocked her head to the side as she continued to stare at him.

"Excuse me? Did I just hear you correctly? Are you _complaining _about _me _not deciding? Look who's still looking in the beverage section of their menu, Mr. Hypocrite!"

Kenshin couldn't help but chuckle as Kaoru whipped the menu back up to prevent anymore conversation directly between the two of them.

After a while of tough choices, they both decided on a drink and successfully ordered a meal.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

While Kaoru twirled the straw of her already gone ice-tea in the deep depths of the over-dosed amount of ice-cubes in the drink, she stole small glances at Kenshin who was still slowly sipping his frap.

Their waters which had come with their drinks, a tradition in all serving places for some reason, lay off to the side, untouched.

Kaoru glowered at him as he enjoyed the remains of his delicious chocolate frap. He slowly caught her gaze and smirked, beginning to taunt her by making those sipping noises of his even louder and making more enjoyable expressions on his face.

If she had known, _she _would have gotten a frap! But no, she got the boring ice-tea. It wasn't even pre-sweetened.

Suddenly she got a mean idea as the clacking of the ice sparked her interest. Slowly, she drew the cup close to her mouth and sucked in an ice-cube.

She took note of the fact that she was acting like a teenager but she didn't _want _to act all boringly old and sophisticated. And besides, she reassured herself. So was he!

Slowly, Kenshin began to realize the threat that he had taken on when he started to tease her with his slurping. But before he could block with something within his reach, she had already loaded up and fired.

The ice from her mouth had landed square onto his forehead and into his frap. Kaoru drew back from her firing position and covered her mouth with the back of her hand while the corners of her lips were visibly drawn into a bright smile, trying to stifle her laughter that was building; Kenshin looking forlornly into his now ruined remains of his frap.

He snapped his head upward and glared.

This means War! 

Grabbing one of the idle glasses of water, he took a large sip of it, never breaking his glare from the giggling Kaoru. Oh, she was in for it.

Kaoru immediately realized what Kenshin had in his mind and squeaked while reaching for her cloth that was placed in her lap and shielded her face with it.

"Kenshin, no! Ice is different!"

With no reply, Kaoru became curious and slowly peeked out from above her cloth to see Kenshin waiting and ready to shoot. She shrieked when he fired at her once she let her curiosity get the best of her. She was able to get the cloth up in enough time to prevent it from soaking her but still received a few sprinkles.

Still holding up her shield, Kaoru desperately reached for the other cup but Kenshin had grabbed it before she could get a handle on it.

"Kenshin, that's not fair!"

The smooth voice of the redhead only varied into a chuckle.

"Who said I was trying to be fair?"

Kaoru gasped loudly to match the reaction of a young child. She recalled on just how much fairness was important as a child when in the middle of a game.

"Cheater!"

Kaoru raved as she continued to duck behind her cloth. Suddenly, she felt a hard tug on her cloth and was dismayed to find it had been yanked away from her, now securely held in Kenshin's palm.

"Look who's cheating!"

Kenshin waved the cloth around to identify his meaning. His mouth was loaded and was in process of spitting the water at her while he smirked. Finally, he spit the water at her while Kaoru shrieked, holding her hands up in defense.

"Kenshin! Stop!"

Kenshin would have stopped if Kaoru was seriously irritated, but the lacking ability to keep a straight face was obvious from Kaoru, and Kenshin took advantage of it. Kaoru continued to wave her arms as the water splattered all over her.

In her flailing, Kaoru had somehow spotted the unguarded cup of ice-water. She reached for it while still trying to block Kenshin's attacks. Finally grasping the glass in her hand, Kaoru stood up. Kenshin realized what Kaoru had gotten a hold of and stopped his attacks quickly, frantically trying to retreat.

"Oh shit!"

Kaoru quickly extended her arm and let the cup hover over his head before flipping her arm over causing the chilling water to pour from the cup and onto Kenshin's head. Kenshin stopped his scrambling once the icy cold hit his head. He just simply sat still, shoulders risen in irritation.

Kaoru smirked and laughed victoriously as she drenched Kenshin with the water. When her glass had run dry and she actually took time to focus on all of him instead of just his head, she noticed that his hand was now gripped on _his_ glass.

Monkey see, monkey do.

And just as the saying, Kaoru was the next one to get drenched.

Kaoru's mouth was wide with shock as Kenshin soaked her just as she had soaked him.

Now it was _Kenshin _with the smirk on his face. Kaoru scrunched her face at him and grabbed a hold of her hair and rung it out and then flipped her head, purposely trying to spray Kenshin.

More childish battles occurred through out the time they were at the lunch bar until they decided it'd be best if they left.

The stares they received at the lunch bar were ignored as they slowly got up from their table and left, childish smiles on their waterlogged faces.

They walked along the board walk near the beach as the afternoon rolled by, heading for a small ice-cream hut to top off their earlier meal. Thick clouds started to form overhead, blocking the summer sun while the smoke-screen sky started to rumble with thunder.

Kenshin glanced up in the direction of the rumble and stopped, staring. Kaoru had noticed his stop and looked at him, then in the direction where he was staring and smiled.

"A thunder-storm's heading in."

Kenshin didn't glance at her when she said that. He simply kept his eyes glued on the darkening sky that continued to growl, the sky now flashing flickers of lightning, riveting the passerby's as they glanced at the upcoming storm.

"…yeah…"

Kenshin's voice was quiet, almost inaudible. Behind his words was obviously more then just a reply. His mind was flashing through the files of his memory bank until it stopped on one cabinet that held two memories in its files.

Taking then out of their folders, Kenshin took that time to look back at the stowed away reminiscences.

Flash Back 

_Thunder rolled across the sky, threatening the once blue skies as they retreated under the smoke-gray clouds. Two young teens dashed down the side walk that was now spotted with droplets of oncoming rain._

"_C'mon Kaoru, run faster!"_

_Kenshin's voice called out as he ran in front, Kaoru trailing behind. Their breathing was labored, indicating that they had been running a while. Kaoru seemed to be having more trouble then the redhead who was in front of her._

"_I'm…trying!"_

_She paused between much needed gasps of air. _

_The storm had been a warning for everyone to head inside and stay inside. The rain was told to leak like a waterfall from the sky while the thunder and lightning weren't any better. Kenshin recapped in his mind about the storm and pushed to run faster._

_And he knew that even though they loved thunderstorms, that wouldn't change anything if they were to get caught up in the middle of it's vicious rage. _

_Stopping for a moment, Kenshin let his best friend catch up with him. Once she was in range, Kenshin grasped her hand with his and started to drag her to the closest shelter there was._

_Ending up underneath the roof of someone else's entrance to their home, Kenshin shook his slightly wet jacket while Kaoru shook her head, airing out her hair. _

"_Just made it…"_

_Kaoru's voice was low but laced with relief. Kenshin nodded wordlessly as he glanced up at the sky that had soon after they'd gotten under shelter, let the heavens open up. Suddenly, he let a smile slip onto his face._

"_You know…this isn't so bad. I mean, every time we see a thunderstorm, we reflect on this day. On how we were almost caught up in the biggest storm of the year. All because **you **ran off after school and I had to come find you!"_

_Although Kenshin accused Kaoru, he still held his smile. Kaoru placed her hands on her hips as her spectacle rimmed eyes glared at him._

"_You didn't **have** to come look for me! I knew where I was going!"_

_Kenshin simply chuckled as he continued to watch the storm, allowing the playful punch from Kaoru slip from his mind. _

"_A thunderstorm…--"_

_6 years later _

"_Daddyyyyy-"_

_The small whine of a young 4-year-old boy disturbed the slumber of a peacefully sleeping Kenshin. His heavy-lidded violet eyes slowly opened to see the young boy standing next to him, which he lay disoriented on the living room couch. _

_Kenshin rubbed his eyes wearily as he drew in a breath and yawned, sitting up languidly. Running a hand through his mussed hair, Kenshin looked at his son who stood quietly. Tears were sprouted in the turquoise eyes of his son as a small blanket that was grasped in the boys palm lay crumpled on the floor, dragging behind the boy._

"_Kenji, what's wrong?"_

_Kenshin's senses were slowly returning as his son sniffed and rubbed a small wrist over his misty eyes. _

"_Th-the storm…"_

_Kenji hiccupped between his words as he answered his dads tired question. _

_Kenshin glanced out the darkened window and took note that sure enough, the glass was being beaten by harsh raindrops, and the night sky would occasionally light up with flashes of lightning. He frowned as he looked back at his son. The look of fear on his son's face pained him deeply. _

_A crack of piercing thunder boomed as Kenji shrieked in fear and lunged himself into his fathers arms while gripping his dad's nightshirt tightly, whining in despair. Kenshin slowly wrapped his arms around the small frame of his son, cradling the boy's head._

"_Shh. It's ok, Kenji. It can't hurt you. It's just a mess of sounds and lights."_

_His son sniffed and hiccupped more as Kenshin felt his shoulder become damp from the tears the boy shed._

"_I-I'm s-scared, daddy." _

_Kenshin sighed as he used his free hand to comb through his hair. He just didn't have a mothers touch._

"_Would you like to sleep with dad for tonight…?"_

_A small nod and a strained hum of agreement from his son answered him. He continued to cradled the small boy in his arms. _

_At times like these, he wished Kaoru still stood loyally by his side. Along with Sano, Aoshi, and Soujiro. But he could only wish…_

End of Flash Back 

Those memories had been so buried deep in the darker chambers of his mind, Kenshin could barely recall if they were fictional, or if they actually happened. But the emotion tied in reminded him that they were memories, not fantasies.

It had been true, as well. He had desperately wished for Kaoru's aid in everything that had happened to him. Some nights, he couldn't help but spend crying at his idiocy. ( A/N: Y'gotta love a man who can cry, people x3 ) He had a beautiful son in his life, but it was at the wrong time.

Graduation had long ended, leaving Kenshin to thank upon his lucky stars that he didn't have to drop out of High school to tend to the baby. Not everyone went to college, or even wanted to go to college in the first place, he'd remind himself. But it didn't make him feel any different. He had wanted desperately to go to college and perfect in the art of sculpting and construction. But he could never do that. Not with a baby strapped to his back.

He could barely believe that he had been able to last through the hard times of being both a father and mother. People had immediately changed their outlook on him. Branding him as a scoundrel. A rapist.

Tomoe had done her damage and easily covered it up. Sprouting the fake tears and moping around, acting like a victim while _he _should have been in her place.

_He _was the one who was raped, not her.

But he still had to deal what life head dealt to him. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, he was to blame. He had been warned by his friends and even had an unusual fatalities to prove how rotten she really was, but he still didn't listen.

He cursed his ignorant stubbornness. Cursed it to the point where he wanted to bash his fist into a wall.

Kaoru had blossomed beautifully and was now a gem to behold. And he had missed it.

So many regrets in his life yet so little confidence. The bad things in life were always said to stick out more than the good. But Kenshin could barely recall the good times in his life that he could outline in golden lace because of it's value.

Kaoru had been one. She had been there for him. And she probably would have still stood by his side if he didn't shun her. And then there she was again. Present time. And she was still by his side, practically forgetting the unforgivable mistakes he had made in his life.

God, how he lov—

The waving of a hand in front of his face stopped him in the middle of his thoughts. He blinked a few times and refocused his eyes on the woman who stood before him. The woman whom his thoughts had just been preoccupied with.

"Kenshin, are you alright? You've been in a daze ever since you last spoke. Anyway, no one's on the boardwalk because the storm's heading in so we might want to get ice-cream while we still can."

Although she had been worried, a smile was still laced on her lips. Kenshin still didn't tear his gaze from her. Continuously, he had made mistakes and done stupid things in his life but she didn't seem to care. She just continued to walk with him.

She smiled at him once more and slowly turned to head toward the ice-cream hut. Kenshin quickly came to his senses and reached out, grasping her arm, causing her to stop.

Puzzled, Kaoru turned around to see what the problem was.

"Kenshin?"

Not answering her question, Kenshin stepped forward once, and tugged on her arm, closing the space between them.

He couldn't stop himself.

He craved for it.

Every since the night on the porch.

_Just once more…only once more_. He thought. Sliding his left arm around her waist and onto her back, Kenshin pushed her small body gently toward his while his right hand slid up her arm he had grasped and onto her shoulder. Then, using his right hand, he drew her head back with a small twist of the grasp on her shoulder and dipped down.

He hovered dangerously over her lips, his breathing puffing out, mingling with hers. Finally, he closed the space between their mouths in the opposite form of their first kiss. Sabotaging her lips with his for a long second. He drew back only to gaze lazily into her own eyes. Surprise has long left her as she quickly saved the lost connection, this time taking the dive in, twisting her mouth with his.

It was almost a savage. They attacked each others mouths with strong cravings for the other.

The rain that had already began to sprout from the sky now poured down on the two as they sucked one another dry of words, breaking their kiss but quickly patching it up with another.

The ice-cream was long since forgotten…

o0o0o0o0o

A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING!

The rain has let up.

For further details on my delay, read the A/N at the top, please XD

REVIEW!


	11. Prying the Secret

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry about the delay! I've been working on my new story **Dear Diary. **

It seems to be quite the hit:D!

Anyway, here's chapter 11!

XxX

Chapter 11 – Prying the Secret

XxX

When Kenji scrambled off the warm couch of Kaoru's living room and hastily made his way over to the door of the house, after craning his neck out the high door-window on his tip-toes, Kenji opened the door to two familiar figures.

Drenched and proceeding to soak the water even deeper into their bones with their standing in the door-way while the storm continued to roar, the two drowned rats hunched their way into the dry inside.

Kenji stared at the two apprehensively in hopes to see some progress from their date. Shifting between Kaoru, who was wringing out her shirt, then to his father, who was squeezing the water from his hair, Kenji hoped for a sign of some progress. Kenji looked more closely at Kaoru's now shy form as she tried to dry her thoroughly drenched clothing.

Her mouth was formed in a diffident frown as her face was slightly red. But Kenji focused back onto her mouth for a moment. His eye twitched slightly as he noticed that her lips looked slightly swollen. Squinting his turquoise eyes, he swiftly snapped his head to the direction of his dad.

His dad has busied himself with shaking his chin length locks dry, then unbuttoning his shirt so he could also attempt to dry it. Kaoru had wrung out her shirt and some of her hair before turning to Kenshin shyly, then, seeing his shirtless state, quickly shifted back into her old position.

Kenji gazed among the two with a confused expression.

_Exactly **what** happened on the date that made them so skittish?_

Kenji quickly retreated back to the living room where Yahiko sat on the couch, waiting for the news. Kenji slowly approached with a lost look on his face.

"Well? What's the outcome?"

Kenji could only shake his head for the moment. Then, he lifted his gaze from the couch cushions to Yahiko's eyes.

"They seem really nervous around each other…"

Yahiko groaned and wiped his hand over his face.

"Not good…"

Kenji bit his lip in deep thought while Yahiko laced his fingers through his tussled black locks. Suddenly, Kenji popped in his idle position.

"Maybe something happened and they don't want us t'know!"

The mirthful expression had brought a doubtful Yahiko to some hopes. Yahiko slowly stroked his chin while bobbing his head into a steady nod.

"It's possible…"

"Kenji, we've got to get going…"

The soft voice of his father pierced the thoughtful air that had formed around the two mischievous plotters and Kenji turned his head to face his father who had his head poked out shyly from the kitchen, and nodded.

"Okie-Dokie, Dadio!"

Kenshin cocked an eyebrow at the new nick name.

_Dadio….? _

Kenshin shook off the sudden confusion that bubbled up inside of him and just ushered Kenji over. After saying his goodbye's with Kaoru's little live-in 'brother' so to speak and exchanging a few words, Kenji hopped off the couch and trotted over to where Kenshin stood.

One last glance at Yahiko and a nod from the boy, Kenji was set and ready to go. Silently, Kenshin led him to the door and looked back at Kaoru, then gave a silently nod and proceeded out the door. Then, pulling out of the driveway, Kenshin and his son drove off for home.

Kaoru watched as Kenshin drove off down the road with a longing look in her eyes. Yahiko watched her from the cough with the remote in his palm and not paying attention to the T.V which he had turned on.

"Somethin' wrong?"

His question had jolted her from her dream state and she quickly turned to face him with a smile and a shake of her head. Yahiko would have rolled his eyes if the smile she had given him was fake. But instead, he was surprised when she presented him with a bright, jovial beam and a tinge of pink at her cheeks.

"Nope…everything's fine!"

Yahiko watched as Kaoru hummed an unknown tune while heading to the shower to rinse off the dirt and grime that had made it's home on her body for the day.

Yahiko shook his head in confusion. He could have sworn by the way that they were acting that something went wrong. Hearing the squeak of the shower knob, Yahiko decided to question Kaoru on her date when she was done her shower.

XxX

After a half an hour of flipping through channels and staring intently at the t.v. screen, Yahiko thanked the lord when he heard the shower finally come to an end. Resisting from turning his head to see Kaoru emerge from the bathroom, Yahiko let his patience run until dry for Kaoru to come and plop herself onto the couch, towel and all.

Snuffing, Yahiko kept his gaze fixed on the screen.

"You know, it'd be nice if you could change into something slightly more decent."

And un lady-like snort was heard from Kaoru.

"You're living in _my _house, remember? If I want to just be in a towel, I'll just be in a towel. Besides.-"

Kaoru paused in her sentence to take a large mouthful of her apple in which she snatched from the fridge, then continued on, another point off of her ladylike like.

"We're practically related."

Yahiko sighed and shook his head, unable to argue with her reasonably. Glancing from the screen to Kaoru every once in a while, Yahiko decided that after some time of hesitation, it was the moment of truth. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Yahiko summed up his courage to finally ask Kaoru about –

"How was your date?"

Kaoru stopped in the process of eating her apple only for a moment as Yahiko took note that a faint blush spread onto her face, but only for a moment.

"It was good."

Her curt reply made Yahiko smirk. She was avoiding a direct answer on purpose.

"So! Whadd'ya guys do?"

Kaoru swung her hand with the apple around to signify that there wasn't only one thing they had done, then took a small bite while answering.

"You know, dinner, talking…ice-cream."

_Bingo! She paused before ice-cream. Something must've happened. _

"Specifics! C'mon, Kaoru!"

Kaoru rolled her eyes and sighed as if annoyed.

"We talked a lot, ok?"

"About _what?"_

Yahiko continued to press Kaoru into telling everything about the date. Groaning in defeat, Kaoru finally confessed more detailed parts of her date with the suddenly infamous Kenshin.

Whapping his forehead, a true, mirthful laughter escaped Yahiko's mouth.

"You guys had a water fight on the peer restaurant and were asked to leave..?"

Kaoru laughed and nodded as Yahiko shook his head, a smile on his face. Once their laughter died down Kaoru leaned back onto the couch and sighed in contentment.

"So. Anymore confessions…?"

Kaoru fiddled with her fingers slightly and looked around.

"Well…after that, we went to go get some ice-cream."

Yahiko nodded. The ice-cream topic had finally risen. The blush on Kaoru's face didn't help diminish his growing curiosity either. Testing his luck, Yahiko continued to press his skills.

"What flavor'd you get?"

Kaoru snapped out of her dream world and turned to face him.

"What?"

Yahiko wanted to smirk. Whenever in need of time to think for an answer, just as 'what'. He had hit a nerve and Kaoru was now the fly in his web.

"What flavor did you get?"

"Vanilla."

Kaoru's answer was curt and snappy, almost hinting that she wished to get off the topic of ice-cream flavors. But Yahiko wasn't done with his questions.

"What about Kenshin?"

Kaoru put on a bitter-sweet smile that told Yahiko she was irritated.

"Why do you want to know?"

She hoped to throw him off with her comeback but that seemed to have the opposite effect on the boy. And to her dismay, she quickly learned that she had only added fuel to his flame.

"Aha! I knew it!"

Kaoru desperately attempted to act confused.

"What are you talking about?"

Yahiko grinned sadistically as he pointed his finger at Kaoru as if to prove her guilty.

"Something happened with you and Kenshin!"

Her hope for him buying her confusion was slowly starting to die as she jerked back at his proclamation.

"What?"

"Something happened between you and Kenshin after you guys finished dinner! You never had ice-cream, did you!"

"Yahiko, what are you-"

"Whadd'ya do!"

"I don't-"

"Whadd'ya do!"

"We didn't-"

"Whadd'ya do, whadd'ya do, whadd'ya do!"

"We-"

"C'mooonnn! Afraid to tell me? Huh? Chicken! Buck buck buck!"

Yahiko flailed his arms about like a chicken and made clucking sounds along with swinging his neck much like a chicken would while Kaoru desperately tried to get a word in.

"We didn't get ice-cream!"

"Then whadd'ya do then!"

Kaoru let out a large groan of utter frustration, finally realizing that she wasn't going to win over him, she let her anger get the best of her.

"WE KISSED!"

Having interrupted Yahiko in his irritating banter of provoking the truth from Kaoru, he stopped waving his arms and looked at her blankly a moment.

"What?"

Kaoru growled and curled her fingers in attempts to steady her anger, but still latched her hands aournd Yahiko's neck and shook him.

"WE KISSED! LIP-LOCKED, MADE-OUT, TANGLED TONGUES- _WE KISSED! _WE KISSED, WE KISSED, WE KISSED, WE KISSED, WE KISSED!"

After finally releasing the stressful secret, Kaoru let go of the boy who stared at her, hair messy and disheveled along with his cloths, while Kaoru let out devilish breathing patterns as if in death-defying labor.

Getting a hold of what information Kaoru had just so graciously supplied to him, Yahiko's evil grin returned.

"Oooohhh! So you _kissed! _Look who's getting it _on!"_

Kaoru's eye twitched as he mentioned it in the confident tone he used.

"So! Ugly's turning up the heat with Kenji's pop! Gee, I didn't know you had it in ya!"

Kaoru yelled out and then buried her face into the couch to dampen the aggravation that so ferociously burned in her at the moment.

"Admit it."

Kaoru slowly brought her face out from the cushion just enough to look at him, un amused, with one of her sapphire eyes.

"You love him."

Kaoru rocketed from her buried position in the couch cushions and stared at Yahiko in bewilderment.

"_What!_"

Yahiko grinned at her.

"You love Kenshin! Admit it! You totally dig him!"

"Yahiko Kamiya Miyojin!"

Regularly, the name would've silenced Yahiko, but he was too busy basking in his victory to care. He didn't even mind as Kaoru suddenly start to beat him with one of the couch cushions.

"You didn't deny it! Just admit it already!"

"There's nothing to admit!"

"Oh pshh! Nothing to admit me a-"

Before Yahiko could finished, the couch cushion had collided with his face and silenced him while Kaoru continued to beat him. But finally removing the cushion, Yahiko continued.

"-ss! You _love _him and you know it!"

Did she…? Did she really love Kenshin Himura? The boy that played the roll of 'best friend' in high school and abandoned her? The same who had left her and then came back into her life, and this time with a son?

Did she?

"Chicken!"

Whatever the answer was, it was clear to her and she wasn't about to let this boy taunt her with childish provoking. Mustering up her courage and gritting her teeth together, Kaoru let her denial slip from her mind and answered his leering question.

"Yes, I do!"

Yahiko snickered.

"Do what?"

"Love him!"

"I can't hear you!"

"YES, I DO LOVE KENSHIN!"

Finally satisfied with his answer, Yahiko clapped his hands together and chortled in a stuck up air while proclaiming his victory quite obviously, letting Kaoru cool down from her explosion of confession.

"I knew it! I just _knew _it!"

Finally about ready to lose her senses, Kaoru got up from her place on the couch and stomped her way into her bedroom and slammed her door shut while Yahiko continued to celebrate his success.

"Everything's working just the way it should be. Man, Yahiko, you're the greatest."

Yahiko sighed as he fell back onto the couch, placing his hands behind his head while crossing his legs and smirking to himself.

"You are definitely thee greatest…"

XxX

Lendra-chan: Well everyone, sorry for the long wait! I was having trouble with exactly what to write in this chapter. I wish I could show you what I saw in the scene with Kaoru and Yahiko! It was pretty funny the way I pictured it...

I hope you all enjoyed it!

Please review!


	12. Soak up the Sun

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while! I've been bust writing this one-shot of mine. Hope you all can forgive me!

Well anyway, I can't really reply to any of your reviews at the moment because (if you didn't get the e-mail) replying to reviews in a chapter is supposedly against this new rule. (roles eyes) y'know what? Screw the rule. I'm replying.

**Larie-chan** – Yes, being in a towel and confessing your love couldn't be anymore like anything else than well…anything. Heh, that didn't make sense. Anywho, you'll see what Yahiko and Kenji have planned if you read :)

**AnimeLCgrl** – Well, I aim to make things funny! But I dunno, I think Kaoru did quite well in concealing it from Yahiko for a little while. I mean, if it would shut him up then I would fess! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**I like vader lots** - …um…ok? Oo; -confused-

**Whoot** – Yes…yes I did. Thank you for noticing oo

**XxAznLadyXx** – Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :) Thanks for reviewing!

**Hisui-chan02** – I'm glad you like my story so much! I aim for that kinda feedback. :)

**DragonBlade666** – Yeah, I wanted Yahiko to have a big ego here. It's cute, I think :) And Kenji's already drilled Kenshin for answers XD But Kenshin was a much easier customer than Kaoru. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Dreamaker13 **– Why thank you very much! I'm trying to improve on my writing so that it's a lot more casual than dramatic. Dramatic ness is quite common. I don't like common XD Anyway, thank you or reviewing!

**Anonymous but very interested** – (nice name oo ) Well, here's your update! I'm happy you're enjoying my story!

**Crystal Winds** – Yahiko is very good. Heh heh, thank you for reviewing. I'm happy you like my story :)

**Kimberlyann** - Yes, yes, they're easy to crack when irritated. Of course, Kaoru's got that temper and Kenshin's got his son so that pretty much solves any questions as to why they're so easily provoked. Thanks for reviewing!

**Aldailyn** – oo Sorry it took so long nn A lot has happened! It _is _summer. Anywho, here's your update! Thanks for reviewing!

**Beautiful-kamiya** – Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad that you're enjoying it :)

**Crossfire** – Well gee, sorry for taking so long oo; I've got a life to live, y'know? XD Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**EdxWinry** – Thank you oo I'm happy you like it…so much XD thank for reviewing!

**Sims are awesome** – (Sims _are _awesome.) You did, did you? Dang, I wanted it to be a surprise. Heh, guess it was sorta predictable, considering Kenji did it to Kenshin first. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Royal blueKitsune** – Aw, don't hurt poor Yahiko! He's being annoying on _purpose! _XD Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Peach** – Sorry about not updating sooner! I've been working on this one-shot thing…stupid guidelines ee;; Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Kawaii meeh** – Patience! They'll admit their love sooner or later (to each other) But it's not going to happen until later chapters! OO! –ducks-

**Lynn-Minmay** – Why, thank you! Oh, and if you want to see Kenji drill Kenshin, read the chapter before oo Kenji's already got Kenshin to admit his love XD Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Reignashii** – Wow! That's awesome to know! I'm glad you like it that much! I hope you crack up if you read my new one-shot coming out:) thanks for reviewing!

**Shadow Bath** – Well I'm glad you loved it:D Please review again! Tsukasa Miyamoto – Thank you :) Review again! 

**Payne N. Uranus** – erm, well, I've updated! You can put away your angry mob! Sorry for taking so long! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**L1Ldumie TK** – I'm glad you like it:) Thanks for reviewing!

**Neko-Yuff16** – Well I'm happy you're satisfied! Thank you for reviewing!

**Shout2danorth91** – I'm glad you loved the chapter :) Thanks for reviewing!

-

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Kenshin or his evil Battousai conscience. –head down-

**Battousai** : darn right you don't!

**Kenshin**: Battousai, don't be so harsh :(

**Warning** – A lot of heat, a bad sunburn and sand in swimming trunks.

Well anyway, this would be known as chapter 12!

-

Chapter 12 – Soak up the Sun

-

Waving his hand frantically in front of his face repetitively, Kenshin tried to shoo away the scalding heat that threatened to take over him. The summer day was eating away at his energy and he felt another bullet of sweat drip down his face. It was times like these he really wished that he had installed his air conditioner. He could always do it, but he didn't want to risk his little energy as enough support to carry the large object up the suddenly very tiring and quite steep stairs of his basement.

Ever since that night that Kenji had been able to pry his little secret about Kaoru from him, he had tried to avoid her every chance he got. He felt as though if she was able to look him in the eyes, he'd melt into a puddle and then dissolve away. Though, at the moment, he felt like he needed her company. Kenji was off at her house once more and he had the day off from work because of the unbelievably humid weather and temperature defying heat.

It was definitely Summer.

Finally letting gravity get the best of him, Kenshin allowed himself to be pulled down onto the couch cushions. The unattractive ceiling pattern started to fade from an off-white to a black color as he felt the humidity start to invade his senses and lull him to an unwanted fainting. As he suspected, he felt the pull of consciousness start to slack and unconsciousness wade on victory until the sharp ringing of his phone drove him out of his sudden drowsiness. He reached over to silence the sudden annoying screech of the phone.

Weakly grasping the phone from the receiver, he placed the speaker to his ear and muttered a tired-

"Hello?"

And to his surprise, he didn't receive the greeting, but to his amusement, he got a small yet friendly demand on the other end of the line.

"Get over here."

He blinked slightly, running a hand through his hair.

"Pardon?"

"I said, get your butt over here you loser!"

Kenshin frowned at the little name. Who was she to call him a loser? He sat upright and pouted.

"Kaoru, is that really necessary?"

Kaoru, who was desperately trying to retain her jovial mood, cracked her composure and broke out into a fit of giggles. Kenshin couldn't help himself as her infectious laughter possessed his mood and caused the irritating heat to disappear and a chuckle emitted from him.

"Kenshin, c'mon. All the kids are outside and playing in the ocean. It's a scalding hot day and you deserve the reprieve just as much as anyone else. So I say, get your sorry little butt over here!"

Kenshin sighed, a smile plastered onto his face, there to stay for the day most likely.

"Alright, alright. I'll be there in 15 minutes."

"10." Kaoru challenged.

"12" Kenshin bargained.

He heard Kaoru laugh over the phone and smiled as she agreed.

"Deal. See you soon, _neighbor._"

Kenshin chuckled and said his goodbye then hung the phone up once more. Talking with her made him feel 18 again. Sighing slightly, Kenshin pushed off of the couch and headed toward his room to grab his swimming trunks.

Looks like he was going to spend the day swimming.

-

Looking out at the group of kids who played furiously in the ocean's tide, Kaoru held a hand over her eyes to block the bright sun from her vision so she could keep a watchful eye on the rambunctious bunch, a pair of sunglasses atop her head. She smiled and laughed as she watched Yutaro dunk Kenji and then Yahiko dunk Yutaro.

The summer sun was almost painful it was so hot but Kaoru enjoyed it all the same. Just as long as she had her sunscreen, she'd be fine.

She broke out into her usual laughter as all three, Yahiko, Yutaro, and Kenji were engulfed in a large wave but surfaced looking quite irritated with the unpredictable water.

"Ahoy!"

The familiar male voice had pleasantly made it's way into Kaoru's hearing range and she swiftly turned around to see the red head making his way toward her wearing a simple T-shirt and swimming trunks. She smiled and waved jovially at him and beckoned him to proceed his walking toward her deck.

"C'mon! The ocean calls to us!"

Kenshin rolled his eyes and waved his hand.

"Pff. Sure."

Kaoru, once in hitting range, pouted at him and whapped him on the shoulder. Kenshin chuckled and smiled, signifying that he was simply joking. Sticking her tongue out at him, Kaoru decided that his punishment would be put on hold for the time being.

She had a simple white button up shirt on that folded upward at the elbows and hugged her curves quite nicely, though portraying a comfortable and maneuverable slack. Underneath was a black bikini that tied around her neck and behind her back and also tied at her hips. Kenshin found himself desperately trying to focus on her face, rather than her legs. Kenshin approached the deck, stumbling slightly from the sand. With a smile he turned to the waves where he saw his son and two others. As he had hoped, his son turned to him and spotted his form then waved, earning a wave back in return.

Kenshin chuckled as his son was rudely interrupted in his greeting by Yahiko tackling him into the water. He shook his head, laughing slightly, before turning to face the sitter. He watched her a moment, her elbows supported on the railing of her porch, her tongue out in a playful gesture while she watched the kids play.

"So. How've you been lately?"

It was quite difficult to start a conversation that was so simple, Kenshin noted. At least with the woman before him. Kaoru shrugged her shoulders and smiled, turning to face him.

"Well, I'm better than some and worse than others, I suppose."

Kenshin nodded in agreement, turning his gaze back to the sea. He squinted his eyes as the sun's powerful shine glazed off of the water and proceeded to project into his eyesight, no say for him to object or oblige to the irritating beam of light. Kaoru shoved his shoulder slightly and laughed. Slightly perplexed, Kenshin looked up at her with a look of confusion.

Kaoru pointed her thumb toward the sea and cocked her head to the side.

"How 'bout we take a dip? It's hotter than hell and I think it's much deserved, don't you?"

Kenshin slowly shrugged his shoulders, tongue-tied and unable to reply anything in speech. Kaoru smiled and hopped off of her deck and discarded the white shirt and left it in a heap on the sandy beach, racing toward the ocean and it's crashing tide. She turned around in her fast stride and beckoned him to come along with her while Kenji, Yahiko, and Yutaro were a few steps ahead of them, already contently drenched.

Kenshin sighed slightly, unable to still his beating heart as he rid of his sandals and slowly removed his shirt, taking that time to think things through. He needed to keep his cool and keep his composure in check. With that branded in his brain, he made his way down the beach, lowering the pace level to a walking speed, compared to Kaoru's jog. Kenshin shielded his eyes of the blaring sun as he approached the shore-line, Kaoru already bravely submerged under the cool water.

He hesitated, testing the temperature with his toe, then pulled back quickly, as if touching acid, the cold temperature almost painfully clashing with his scalding hot skin.

"Sheesh! Kaoru, I can't believe you just jumped in!"

Kaoru surfaced rather ungracefully, spitting the water from her face and brushing back her bangs with a laugh.

"What? Too cold for you?"

Lowering her palms into the water, she revved them forward and splashed the water onto the cowardly male who quickly recoiled with a yelp. Kaoru laughed once more and continued to splash him, only earning a quick retreat of the red-head.

"Kaoru, don't!"

Kaoru placed her hands on her hips as she glared at Kenshin who stood at a safe distance. She turned away and folded her arms, walking deeper into the water.

"Fine! Be a wimp!"

Kenshin frowned as Kaoru dove under the water. She knew darn well that he didn't enjoy cold water very much. He sighed as he slowly headed toward the water, step by step. He could feel the sun beating down onto his skin harshly and he knew that if he didn't get into the water soon, he'd by fried.

He watched as Kaoru and his son in the water and pouted. Where did his son get the nerve to just dive into ice-cold water? He wanted to sit down and whine about the curses of fate but decided to just deal with the sudden shock of temperature change.

Easing himself into around the level of his knee caps, Kenshin felt the almost numbing cold suddenly adjust to his temperature and the water started ot feel slightly more reasonable. He decided that if he guided himself into the water slowly enough, then it wouldn't be as bad as it seemed. But to his dismay, he felt quite wet arms wrap around his neck from behind along with a wet body.

"Kaoruuu!"

The sudden force of Kaoru's tackle set Kenshin off balance and the addition to the surprise attack not only set him off balance, but knocked him off his feet as well and down into the water. With a large splash, Kaoru burst out into laughter as Kenshin lay rigid, teeth grit and shoulders stiff. Drenched and quite cold, Kenshin turned around to look at Kaoru who continued to laugh in her victory.

His boyish nature suddenly reared it's ugly head as the teenager within him revealed itself as he suddenly silence Kaoru in her laughing by tackling _her _into the water. With the little squeak and a large splash, a goofy grin spread onto Kenshin's face, satisfied with his hardy work and what the outcome came to be. Kaoru's hair had fallen loose from it's tie on her head was thrown askew all over her face.

Kenshin held in his dark snickers as Kaoru blew the water from her mouth through her hair while slowly parting the ebony tresses in agitation. Kenshin laughed maliciously as Kaoru glared at him.

That particular cycle of wipe-outs and tackles continued on for most of the day as the 5 of them all enjoyed the surf to the best of their abilities. After a long day of playing with the tide, the sun started to set, sinking slowly below the horizon. The three pre-teens and two mentally-teenaged couple decided to call it a day as they all headed back up to Kaoru's inviting home and most comfortable couches and cushions.

"Aw man! This sucks!"

Kenshin whipped his head toward his son and pointed a finger at him.

"Watch your mouth!"

Kenji responded to him with his tongue and turned back to his complaint.

"I have a sunburn…!"

Yahiko snickered and inspected Kenji.

"Really?"

"OW! Don't touch it!"

Kenshin laughed as he watched the two battle it out with each other while shaking his head slightly. He too had gained a sunburn that was going to be quite sore. But he decided to act mature and deal with it with the vulgar language absent in his mental complaints.

However, when he took a seat on one of Kaoru's porch chairs, he quickly jerked back up into a standing position and glanced at his swimming trunks before slumping his shoulders and groaning.

"This sucks…"

Kaoru blinked and stared at him a moment before breaking out into laughter.

"What's so funny…?"

Kenshin's irritation didn't help Kaoru's attempt to keep her laughter in control as it simply aided her with more hilarity.

"Y-You got sand in your shorts, d-didn't you."

Kenshin's eye twitched with her statement, signifying that she was, indeed, correct. Kaoru lost it at that moment, clutching her sides in attempts to keep her stomach from bursting open. Kenshin sighed and decided to try and empty the unwanted barrels of sand from his shorts and get the uncomfortable grit off his body completely with a shower later on.

By the time he had managed to rid of the extra loose sand from his trunks, Kaoru had controlled herself and wiped the mirthful tears from her eyes.

"Kenshin, it's the beach. You have to know and own that you're not going to get chlorinated and sand-less swimming privileges at the beach."

Kenshin felt the need to come back with a sly retort, but suddenly, a very evil yet very kinky idea sprouted in his mind. He smirked slightly, and that happened to catch Kaoru's attention. What a lucky man he was to have the luck of having the kids inside.

"So Kaoru…have you discovered a way to prevent the sand from getting into one's bathing suit…? And if not…I'd be more than happy to help you remove some of that sand."

-

Lendra-chan: I'm sorry for making this chapter so short! I've been busy. School started and high school's a pain. My older sister just went to college today and all that. I'm really sorry for the delay!

Just do me a favor and REVIEW!

I'll update faster if you do!


	13. Lock Away

**A/N**:D You're all going to kill me, haha!

So! October was the last time I updated?

Ah, well, I was lacking in Kenshin spirit for quite some time, ne? I dunno why, but Kenshin had just become a lost interest…BUT IT'S BACK WITH AVENGENCE! –grins like a psycho while avoiding pitchforks and other various pain inflicting items-

Anyway, I was reading the last chapter of Tn'T and I was trying to think of a way to start off the new chapter. I mean, c'mon. There are like…hundreds of ways you can start that off!...But anyway, I've come to a conclusion. I just hope you guys like it :D

**Disclaimer**- I do not own Rurouni Kenshin and all the loverlee characters within its story borderlines. –sighs and plays harmonica-

**Warning **– Cold icepacks, angry bosses and devious children

-

**Chapter 13** - Lock Away

-

Kenshin groaned as he held a towel-wrapped pack of ice to his head. Underneath the numbing ice was a bump; a stupid, sore, bloody, aching bump. He hissed as he tried to shift the ice on his head a little as his arm began to feel tired. Did he really deserve such a hard blow? Seriously! A joke was simply a joke, even if it _was _rather vulgar! He snuffed in defiance as he took a sip of the orange juice he was provided with. As he swallowed down the orangey substance, he winced as a lump made its way down his throat. Perhaps too much orange juice at once?

He dismissed the insignificant feeling and shook his head, taking another sip of the fruit drink.

Then, setting his cup down, Kenshin slipped on a determined pout as he suddenly stood up from the lounge chair in Kaoru's living room and readjusted the icepack on his head. He wasn't going to let Kaoru have the last word, no sir!

He mustered up as much courage that was left in his soul, tipped the icepack forward onto his head and marched toward the kitchen where Kaoru was emptying her dishwasher. He walked in with a confident intention of getting the final word about the punishment he received for his comment.

"Kaoru!"

When he approached the back of Kaoru's busily working frame, he came to a stop and placed a defiant hand on his hip. She stopped in her stacking and slowly turned around with a static filled smile that was almost _too _sweet.

Kenshin cleared his throat, once again shifting the icepack on his head.

"I …want to have a word with you about what happened earlier…" A little less confident sounding than he would have liked…

Her smile broadened and it was only then that he noticed the utterly _harmless _steak fork and the doubtlessly _risk-free _cutting knife that were gripped tightly in her palms as a result from his stopping her emptying of the silverware.

"Yes? You have something to say…?"

He felt a small cough escape his throat as he nearly dropped the icepack, barely managing to catch it in time from falling off his head.

"Ah…well…I just wanted…to tell you that…"

"Yeeees….?"

He gulped slightly as he held out a finger and nodded his head vaguely.

"Thaaatt…I'll be in…the _living room _…if you need anything, okay?" He gave a nervous chuckle at the end of his sentence and slowly directed his path back the way he came. Once he was out of her sight, he sighed and rubbed his forehead.

_So much for the last word…_

He slowly let himself collapse onto the couch. The time had passed by, bleeding into the late hours of night. His son and Yahiko were comfortably situated in rather awkward positions on the remaining furniture in the room; one glance at them and he deemed them fast asleep.

He smiled at his son and sighed slightly. Lifting his hand from the couch, he reached over to the sleeping figure of his son. Gently tracing the outline of Kenji's figure, he smiled to himself and slowly let his sleepy eyes drift shut. He was suddenly so drowsy…

His breathing came out at an even pace in his slumber, and as he slept quietly, two pairs of eyes peered at him with wry smiles on their faces.

"Are you sure he won't wake up…?"

"Positive. Kaoru always uses that stuff for her headaches and she's out cold. Nothing wakes her up."

"Awesome. So how are we going to move him into the spare room…?"

"We could pick him up and drag him in…"

"…Well we can't really do anything else…it's not gonna be easy, getting him down the hall…and what about Kaoru? How are we going to lure _her _in there?"

"I'll think of something. Don't worry about that right now. Let's just get your dad in there first. He's going to be the harder one. Now. You get his head, and I'll take his feet…Got 'im?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. One, two, three, lift!"

Yahiko and Kenji gently lifted Kenshin from his sleeping place on the couch before slowly inching him out from above the cushions. Then, repositioning so that they could fit down the hall, they shuffled down the corridor quietly, making sure to be careful with the slumbering redhead. Finally reaching the end of the hallway, Yahiko set Kenshin's feet down with one hand and unlocked the door to the spare room. Then, picking him up again, they shifted into the windowless room.

"Just set him down over in the corner. He'll be asleep for about twenty minutes or so."

"Just twenty minutes? I thought you said nothing wakes someone up when they take that stuff."

Yahiko snickered. "I didn't give him a whole tablet. And besides; he's bound to wake up once we get _Kaoru _in here."

Kenji finally nodded and proceeded to drag his father over to the corner of the empty room and prop him up against the plain cream walls. He grinned lightly at his dad and snickered to himself as he stood up and brushed off imaginary dust that might have settled onto his shirt. His turquoise eyes gleamed mischievously as he quickly ran back to Yahiko's side.

Yahiko turned to him and slung a friendly arm around the boy, a smirk on his face.

"So, you got the DT?"

Kenji nodded and grinned, holding up a large roll of duck tape he kept hidden in his large back pocket. Suddenly, his grin drooped slightly as he turned to Yahiko with doubt.

"So you'll get Kaoru in here, right?"

Yahiko grinned in Kenji's direction and smirked, tracing his thumb along his jaw line.

"Sparky, with me, anything's possible."

-

Kaoru sighed as she continued to file away the kitchen silverware. She shook her head as she remembered the events from earlier that same day. Sighing, she closed the silverware drawer and pushing the bottom rack of the dish washer, she closed the machine up and started to head out of the kitchen.

"Kaoru!"

Yahiko's voice startled her for a moment before she sighed and placed a hand on her heart to calm its excessive beating. Lifting her gaze to the brown eyed 'brother' of hers running toward her, she wondered what could have got him so worked up. Placing a hand on her hip, a habit she picked up whenever Yahiko came to _her_ for _help_ she raised an eyebrow as Yahiko caught his breath for a second or so.

"Kaoru…there's a _huge _ass spider in the spare ro-"

He was suddenly interrupted as a hand came down and whapped his head. He yelped and placed a hand on the terribly aching spot and whipped his gaze upward to glare at Kaoru; his nose scrunched.

"Whaddya do THAT for y'old biddy!"

Kaoru glared at the boy, making their height difference seemingly noticeable all of the sudden.

"Don't swear, you little brat. Now; continue what you were going to say…_without _the potty-talk."

Yahiko muttered something that sounded a little too much like 'old hag' to be a coincidence. With Kaoru's insistent glare, he sighed and rubbed his sore head one last time before standing up straight.

"There's a huge spider in the spare room. It's a monster! I dunno, but I think it may be poisonous!"

Kaoru raised her eyebrow once again as she gazed at the boy.

"…What were you doing in the spare room?"

The question didn't throw Yahiko off his course one bit. He was a sly little boy who was quick with his hands and even quicker with his tongue.

"Well, Kenji and I were playing that tag in the dark game…? You know, the one we used to play when I was-"

"Yes, I know, I know." She didn't want to be reminded of those times.

"Well, I hid in the spare room because, since there's not windows, it's pitch black in there. Kenji managed to find me and, as the game goes, you turn on the lights and that's when we spotted it; in the corner of the room."

The story was explained to her without the breaking of eye contact, though she didn't know if she could truly trust the little rascal in his story…and why the spare room of all rooms? There were other dark rooms in the house. She snuffed and raised her head a bit.

"You've never been afraid of spiders before."

Yahiko's shoulders dropped dramatically as he rolled his head in exasperation.

"C'moooon, Kaoru, it was _huge!" _

Sighing in vague annoyance, Kaoru nodded her head.

"Alright, alright; lead me to the offender."

Yahiko grinned as he took her hand and tugged her down the hall, a smirk replacing the smile that was on his lips as soon as his face was turned away from her. As he dragged her down the hall, they spotted Kenji standing outside of the spare room with a disgusted frown on his face.

As they reached the door, Kaoru sighed and looked at the two boys one last time. Seeing that their eyes never faltered in their staring, she sighed, rolled up her sleeves and headed into the room. She looked around the walls, squinting to try and spot the said spider and bring it to its doom. In the darkness of the room, it was hard to spot the insect.

"Hey Yahiko; flip the light switch, will ya?"

Silence was her reply.

"…Yahiko?"

She turned around, only to be greeted with the site of the door closing on her, leaving her in pitch darkness. She stared in the direction of the door for a few more moments, gazing at what would have been the outline of the cherry wood if she could see. Then she snapped and charged toward it with Yahiko's name on her angry lips.

"Hurry and tape the doorknob!" Kenji's voice was anxious and high pitched as he flailed his arms at Yahiko in his panic.

"Don't rush me and perfection! We don't work well rushed."

Kenji, though reluctant, obliged to his commands and stayed silent. Though a pout still marred his face and his hands still flailed in anxiety every other second. A sudden thump against the door provoked him to wail out his panic and push Yahiko into a faster pace but knew that his 'encouragement' wouldn't do much good. He simply bit his lip and continued to whirl his hands in fast circles.

The thumping against the door continued as Yahiko hurried to finish up his taping of the doorknob. Once he confirmed that it was securely taped, he stepped away and grinned at the door with pride; hands planted confidently at his waist, gripping the duck tape.

"You sure that's gonna hold her in there? I mean…Kaoru's pretty strong." Kenji tapped the door knob unsurely and jumped away quickly as it began to jerk violently from the insistent turning on the other end.

Yahiko wrinkled his nose and waved his hand as he laughed, a smirk plastered on his lips.

"Trust me, that'll hold her."

Kenji raised an eyebrow in doubt toward Yahiko.

"How do you know for sure?"

Yahiko turned his chocolate brown eyes toward him and contemplated on his next words to say. His air of jest had melted into seriousness for merely an instant before shrugging his shoulders carelessly.

"Let's just say I've got it all figured out, ok?" With that, he strung an arm around Kenji in boyish arrogance and led the brunette off down the hall.

However, as they sauntered down the hall with the air of sweet successes, Kaoru continued to yank on the knob, twisting it this way and that violently, though progressing very little if she were progressing at all. Finally letting go of the knob at the crying ache of her hands, she resulted in a loud howl of frustration and kicked the door in her bitter spout of anger.

"Damn brat…! I _knew _I shouldn't have trusted him!"

She began to fumble along the wall, running her hands over its smooth plaster texture in attempts to locate a light switch; only to find, seconds later that she had, for a reason beyond her minds ability to process rational thought, carelessly designed the switch to be _outside _of the room when it was built however many years ago.

She hissed a curse once more and began to feel her way around the pitch black room once again. As the dark started to form into a more comfortable shade to deal with in her eyes, her foot suddenly came in contact with something solid. And in her surprise of the unexpected collision with the object, Kaoru lost her balance and blatantly earned herself a one way ticket to the ground below.

When she hit the floor, a loud thump echoing through the room, she growled angrily and hissed a small 'dammnit' under her breath and proceeded to pick herself up until the small groan froze her where she lay.

She stared in the direction of the noise, but as much as she tried, she couldn't form a figure to the noise. In the unseen and unknown room, her imagination began to act up and she quickly scurried away. She heard another small moan and began to back up once again when a familiar, baritone voice halted the chills running up her spine.

"…Kaoru…?"

In her bewilderment, Kaoru was only about to stare into the deep blackness of the room as her mouth hung agape with utter surprise.

"….Kenshin…!.?"

-

A/N: You're all going to murder me, aren't you.

-clears throat and puts a hand up, ignoring the torches and pitchforks- Well, let me explain myself. . .

It's the end of the year for school. One more day left and I'm out. After that, I have to take one final…and it's English, go figure. I might have to take the Science final too…god forbid.

Well, _my _school has this bull crap policy that is, 'END OF THE YEAR, LET'S PILE ON SHIZA LOADS OF WORK:)' It's got me staying up until around 3am every night. It's, quite frankly, idiotically ridiculous.

Well, aside from that, I'm EXTREMELY happy…and sorry. nn; I just got back at 4:30am on Tuesday from a 5-6 day trip to **Mexico** (the Country) for a wedding. We went to Cabo and stayed in 'The one and only Palmilla', a luxurious resort… people bowed to me when I walked by! Sheesh, I felt like a celebrity who wore a backwards hat and had Kenshin manga! XD

I turned **fifteen** on Sunday, June 4th so I spent it in Mexico.

So a Happy Belated Birthday to me. :)

It definitely beat my last one…I thought no one knew about it! But I got a cake delivered to mine and my sister's room, I got _another _cake at dinner and everyone in my family sang happy birthday. (Everyone on my Dad's side was in Mexico for my cousin's wedding.) I even got 'Happy Birthday Alendra' on the top of my menu…And of course, I couldn't eat anymore by the end of the night. I don't have a very big stomach, but I'm sure it super sized over my vacation. –laughs-

Well, I'm so sorry for taking so gosh darn long. I've been exhausted because of all the work I've had to do. I have to study for two tests on my last day, in French and Honors Science…lovely, eh:)

OH! I GOT A CELL PHONE, FINALLY! I've needed one for so dang long...It was really funny that some friends on IM from like…half way across the country wanted the number. XD

I suggest, to make you all feel better for waiting so long, download the song 'Geek in the Pink' by Jason Mraz. I found a Kenshin amv with that song and I fell in love with it. It's a lot of fun:)

Anyway, I'm really, really sorry. Please forgive me and review:(


	14. Please, Please read

A/N: Please, please read.

Hello everyone… I'm so sorry for bringing your hopes up for an update. But right now, I'm unable to really update anything for the time being.

Don't worry, I'll be working on a few stories here and there. I'm not sure how long it'll be, so I'm warning you now.

My best friend, **Shannon Fortier**, I was told, died yesterday in a plane crash over Bethel. She was learning to fly a plane with two other students from ROTC.

I'm really sorry if I sound like I'm needing attention, but I'm quite beside myself with this. I want you all to know that I'm extremely sorry if I take a longer time than I already have in updating.

You see, Rurouni Kenshin was our favorite anime of all time. She was about the only one I could discuss everything with about it without getting annoyed. She's extremely special to me and many others and I hope you all could please, spare even a minute and pray for her.

She's in heaven now, I know and for those who don't believe in god, I'm sorry if I'm offending you, but I need just a little more patience from you all.

I would go on and on with how much she was loved and her love for RK, but I'm sure you all don't want to really hear it.

So please, pray for her and be patient with me. I'm working Broken Legend right now and with her guidance, I'm sure she'll help me with all my troubles in writing.

Either that, or mentally slap me for crying so stinkin' much.

Please everyone. And thank you, thank you, thank you.

Bless you all.

May Angels Lead Her In.

In memory if Shannon Fortier, My best, best friend. I dedicate all my love and stories to her…

RIP Shannon. I love you.


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